Naruto: Prince of the Underworld
by Uzumaki Crossover
Summary: Seeing that his son is not treated like a hero, the 4th takes Naruto to the world of Percy Jackson. With the both of them Demigods and powerful ones at that, will they survive their time in this strange world? And who is the girl in the tree?
1. A whole new world

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 1**

Two teenage boys were facing off in a place called the Valley of the End. This place was the final battle site of the First Hokage, the founder of Konoha, and Madara Uchiha, leader of the Uchiha clan. The two boys were Naruto Uzumaki, who was in his one tailed form and Sasuke Uchiha, who was in his curse seal level 2 form. Both boys were using malevolent powers, but for a purpose.

Sasuke Uchiha was using his power to gain a greater power and finally avenge his family by killing his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. That one man, in one night, literally obliterated the clan. He was going to kill Naruto to gain the ultimate power of his clan's power; the Mangekyo Sharingan. To gain the twisted power of the Sharingan, one has to lose something very precious to them.

Naruto, however, was using the dark power sealed within him to bring back his best friend to the village…back to Sakura Haruno. She was the girl he loved but she love Sasuke for some reason. He would bring back the last Uchiha for her. He would even use Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox, the bane of his existence, to bring him back. For you see, Naruto was supposed to be seen as a hero for keeping the evil fox at bay, but he is seen as the Kyuubi itself and so, he is hate by all but the younger generation. Naruto saw Sasuke as his brother, because while he was at the bottom of the ninja class and an orphan, Sasuke was at the top and the Uchiha was the first person of the younger generation to accept him. So, he would bring him back no matter what!

"I am not going back Naruto. That place is only holding me back! I need to get enough power to beat _HIM_!" Sasuke said as he flapped his giant hand like wings, while activating his best jutsu, the Chidori, a weaker version of the Lightning Blade. It was also black because of the evil chakra he was using.

"I _will_ take you back no matter what, even if I got to break _every_ bone in your body!" Naruto yelled as the tail of the fox cloak swished behind him. He brought his hand to the side and a ball of energy swirled on to it. The Rasengan, normally blue thanks to human chakra, was now purple because of the mixing of human and demonic energies.

The two were at the bottom of a waterfall that had the statues of the two who once battled here. Sasuke was at Madara's feet while Naruto was the First Hokage's feet. With an unspoken word, the two flung into the air at each other, their attacks colliding.

"**CHIDORI!"**

"**RASENGAN!"**

The energies combined around the two thirteen year old boys, creating a large sphere of purple energy around them. Then there was a flash of light, as if there was an explosion of pure power, and now Naruto was knocked out on the ground while Sasuke was standing above the boy. "I am still better then you." Sasuke said as he walked away in the nearby forest. He would not kill Naruto, because then he would be just like Itachi.

A few minutes, the rain began to pour down, the seal that held the evil Kyuubi glowed brightly through Naruto's clothes on his stomach. Then in another flash of light, the one who sealed that terrible beast inside Naruto appeared next to the blond haired ninja, the Fourth Hokage himself. The two looked almost like, except for the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks.

The Fourth looked at Naruto sadly and said, "I'm sorry my son, I should have never sealed Kyuubi into you. I should have just let the village be destroyed by the beast." The Fourth Hokage then got down to his knees and put a hand on Naruto's seal and slowly a ball of crimson red energy with the seal surrounding it came out. "It is time I take you to your true home." He said after he pocketed the ball of energy and held up Naruto's unconscious body, bridal style. That is when Kakashi, Naruto's sensei and the fourth's old student, came on the scene.

The jonin's lone eye widened to that of a dish plate. "S-sensei? M-minato-sensei?"

"Oh hello Kakashi." Minato said as he leveled a glare at the one eyed man. "Sorry to say but _I_ am not truly here. When I sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, I sealed part of my soul as well. Oh, and just so you know, I saw everything!"

This one statement made the jonin pale and start sweating.

"I saw how the villagers ignored Naruto when he was just a child, they overpriced everything he bought, the academy held him back not for being stupid, they caused that, but because of the fact that they hated Naruto. No one gave him a chance and when he got onto your team, you turned your back on him AND the girl to train ONLY the Uchiha. You are just like the villager: at least the third Hokage helped him when he could without that that damn council interfering. That saying, 'Those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who don't help their comrades are worse than trash', does not apply to you. You are such a hypocrite, and a failure in my eyes." Minato growled out as he walked to a black portal. "I hope you are proud of yourself"

"Sensei wait!" came the shaky voice of Kakashi.

"Are you going to say sorry? Don't bother….it won't change a thing." Minato said as he adjusted his hold on Naruto and brought a hand into the air. "**COME!**" There was a pulse in the air and 8 orbs came and spun around his hand. "This world has seen enough of the Tailed Beasts, it is time for the power of the Kraken to leave this world." _And this way, the other demon containers would not die, Naruto would hate me if I killed that Gaara kid._ With that, the blond duo disappeared into the darkness, never to be seen again in this world.

Kakashi fell to his knees, so lost that he never noticed the rain stop or how long he had been there. He slowly got back up and somberly walked back to the village, Lady Tsunade is not going to be happy.

Sasuke, who was almost to Orochimaru, the man who promised him power, felt a burning sensation in his eyes and quickly went to a nearby puddle. The sight before him was the Mangekyo Sharingan!

"N-no….that means that…" Sasuke said to himself, not being able to finish his sentence. He silently cried to himself as he walked to Orochimaru's hidout.

XXX

Sakura, Lee, and a few others were freaking out. Gaara had a just screamed out when a tan ball of energy flew out of him. But now it seemed that he was fine. Temari was fussing over her little brother and when he said that he no longer heard the voice, she gave him a tearful hug. Though, one could not help but wonder what the hell just happened.

Then a cry from the guards caught everyone's attention because they saw a figure in the distance. Taking a closer look, Tsunade saw that it was Kakashi. When the scarecrow haired man finally made it to the gates, he fell to his knees with a broken and defeated look on his face. This so did not bode well.

"Kakashi-sensei….what happened?" Sakura hesitantly asked.

"They are both gone. Sasuke left the battle site, leaving Naruto to die. Only, what I got there, Naruto was unconscious but not alone." Kakashi droned out, giving the now present Jiriaya a sad look.

"My sensei was there as well. He said that he saw everything and that he should have just let the village be destroyed by the Kyuubi, then he called out to the Tailed Beasts and they obviously came and he took them and Naruto….to the underworld I would guess." Kakashi said while the younger generation gasped while Tsunade and Jiriaya looked away in shame. Sakura noticed this and asked.

"Sensei, who was your sensei?" She asked with tears forming in her eyes over her lost teammates.

Jiriaya was the one to answer her question. "The Fourth Hokage and Naruto's father."

There was absolute silence at this statement. The ninja and the villagers who had arrived at the gates to welcome back the Uchiha, all stared in shock at the Toad Sage before everyone let out a paniced, "WHAAAAAAAAT!" that consumed the village.

XXXX

A day after Naruto was taken from his world; the blond was now in a bed. From the sounds outside the window, it seemed that it was very noisy out there. Slowly waking up, Naruto bolted up and looked around, this place was not his apartment in Konoha, nor was it a hospital room.

Looking around him, he noticed a scroll addressed to him:

_Dear Naruto,_

_I am sorry for what I did to you all those years ago, yes I am the Fourth Hokage, but I am also your father. My name is Minato Namikaze. I understand if you hate me but know that I will always love you. Now, I have taken you away from Konoha, even from the Elemental Countries. You are in a place called the United States, more specifically New York City, New York. Though I am dead as Minato Namikaze, I am still alive, but thanks to your uncle I cannot be truly active in your life. Don't worry though, we will meet in time. When the time comes, I will be happy to see you. Now, since you are still young, you have to go to school in this world and I have enrolled you in Yancy Academy. In the seal at the bottom of the scroll, you will find all that you need in this world and that includes money. Also, there are some special jutsu that only you can learn since you are my son. Oh, just for a reference for the future, get a book on Greek Mythology, you will need that info, trust me. Be careful my son._

_Minato…_

Naruto sighed as he looked out the window after reading the scroll. He had a lot to do in this new and strange world. Smirking, he created a shadow clone and got to work sorting out the stuff in the scroll. He did notice that his Shadow Clone came out differently; it literally formed from out of the shadows!

**This is a side project I am doing. I am switching my focus on Rise of Akatsuki and this story, most because I am taking a break from Another Path. It gets annoying having to write the Chunin Exams again and again. I am doing something different, Naruto in another world, a lot more fun to write!**

**Review please.**


	2. Seya later Miss Dodds!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 2**

It has been a few months since Naruto arrived in this new land. Learning a new language had been surprisingly easy. Though he did find out that he was dyslexic because of the fact that he would sometimes get the words backwards.

That was not all bad, for you see; he had met a boy with the same problem. His name was Percy Jackson. The two got along very well. They were both impulsive and that hated being in school. Naruto's reason was because of his experience in the academy back home, while Percy's reason was that weird shit happened to him and that made not a lot of people like him. Now, Naruto being himself did not really give a rat's ass about that. That and the fact that he told Percy about his ninja abilities only strengthened their friendship. Percy wished that he could make Shadow Clones to do his own homework.

Then through that friendship came another. Through Percy, he had meet Grover Underwood. The boy was a cripple because he was always seen with crutches. He was also a bit of a hippy in his opinion because of the fact that he barely ever ate meat and by the way he dressed. Though all in all, Grover was a very nice guy. He usually looked out for Percy and himself the best he could, of course being crippled made him a bit weak.

Now, however, our trio was on a bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They were taking a trip to learn about Greek Mythology, not that Naruto needed it since he knew a lot already. Sitting in his seat, Naruto saw what Percy was wearing for today. With his dark hair, he wore an orangish shirt, blue jeans, and some black shoes. Grover, who was sitting right next to Percy, had his usual crutches, a yellow shirt and some oversized pants on that hid his shoes. Naruto was the odd ball of the group. Compared to his old clothes, he wore a pair of black DC shoes, some ripped jeans, and a black shirt on that had a picture of a skull with blue flames licking the teeth while a bluish silver Chinese dragon broke through the top of the skull.

He was getting annoying lie Percy at the moment because Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of her peanut butter and jelly at Grover, who was acting like nothing was happening to him for their sake. Sure, if Percy did anything to stop her he would be expelled for something stupid. The kid was already on probation because of the odd shit that happened to him but he could not help it. Naruto, however, was not and he could do anything within reason. He smirked in anticipation.

"I am going to kill her." Naruto heard Percy mumble.

"It is okay. I like peanut butter." Grover commented as he had to dodge piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it!" Percy growled out as he started to get up but Grover kept him down. That is when Percy saw the look in Naruto's eyes and smirked.

"You're already on probation." Grover reminded Percy. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Percy smirked and said, "Only if I am the one doing it."

That statement made Grover suddenly look at Naruto and he was about to warn his other friend in the seat next to them, but he never got the chance to because at that moment, Nancy threw another piece of her lunch at Grover. Naruto, who had been fiddling with a paper football, immediately threw the paper projectile at the wad and it caught the piece of sandwich and kept on traveling to the window where it struck through a bit.

"Ms. Boba fett" Naruto started with an annoyed smirk as he made fun of the girl's last name. "Please stop that."

"Why the hell you care Uzumaki! You too cool for those two losers, so why bother helping them?" The red head questioned.

"Because they are better people then you are." Naruto said with a glare that sent chills down the girl's spine. "Now please stop or next time, the paper football will be in you and not the window."

Nancy took another look at window to see part of the paper was outside and paled. She quickly nodded her head. "Good girl." Naruto said making a lot of the students around them laugh, included Percy and Grover.

XXXX

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, leading the group through the big galley, past marble statues, and glass cases full of really old black and orange pottery. Naruto could not help but chuckle at the choice of colors. Naruto looked at Percy and saw the boy was blown away by the fact that this old stuff was in good condition. "Dude, you mouth his hanging open." Percy's face went red as he closed his mouth. Naruto just laughed at his friend's expression.

"Sorry, it is just that this stuff is really old."

"Heh, well, when you have fanatics looking for this stuff, they find it and try and bring it back to the condition it was once in." Naruto said.

Percy looked at Naruto oddly before shaking his head. "I keep forgetting that you are one of those fanatics. I mean you read about all that Greek Mythology all the time."

"There is some pretty interesting stuff." Naruto shrugged as they walked with the group to where Mr. Brunner had stopped. "Besides, Mr. Brunner is under the assumption that we should _both_ know about it all." Percy just rolled his eyes.

"Easy for you to say, you're interested in it. I mean that class and math class is what you excel in, the others are mediocre, like me."

"Heh, touché." Naruto replied knowing he had been had there. Percy usually tried his best but thanks to his Dyslexia AND ADHD, he had a hard concentrating on much of anything at school. So the guy just didn't have much interest in them.

Turning their attention to Mr. Brunner, they went quiet, listen to the guy tell them about the ancient gods and other stuff like that. He had gathered them around a thirteen-foot-tall column with a big sphinx on the top, and the man started telling us how it was a grave marker, a_ stele_, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides.

Naruto noticed that Percy was actually paying attention but the idiots around them would not shut up and when Percy told them to be quiet, for some odd reason Ms. Dodds, the annoying substitute math teacher, would give the both of them the evil eye. It was like she expected them to do something bad. That annoyed Naruto even further and he was getting a bad vibe from her. Her chakra was odd too; he would have to keep an eye out for her.

Grover noticed this as well and we both nodded to each other. This was someone they would keep an eye out for because when Percy told them that he thought she was not human, Grover gave him a very serious look like he already knew and agreed with him. Naruto just didn't like her because she was an old bitch!

Anyway, Mr. Brunner just kept on talking about Greek funeral art. When Nancy blabbed about a naked man on the _Stele_, Naruto saw Percy snapped and practically yelled at her to shut up.

"Mr. Jackson." came the voice of Mr. Brunner, "did you have a comment"

"No sir." Percy relpied, embarrasses by his outburst, which made Naruto shake his head. Sure, he was going to say the same to the red head but Percy beat him to it.

The wheelchair man then pointed to one of the pictures on the _stele_, asking Percy what the picture meant.

"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, looking not that satisfied. "And can you tell me why?"

Seeing Percy have a hard time answer that question, Naruto decided to intervene. "The psycho ate his kid because it there was some prophecy telling him that his kids were going to take over one day like he did." Naruto explained, getting a sigh of relief from Percy. "He Titan Lord went and got his panties in a bunch and ate his kids because of that, but all he really did was set the prophecy in motion and screwed himself over because his wife hid her last born, Zeus and gave the guy a rock to eat. Talk about a real rock head." Naruto joked, which made a lot of people laugh, including Mr. Brunner. "Anyway, when Zeus was all grown up he tricked his dad into barfing up his brothers and sisters and well….the war between Titans and God came to be and the Gods won."

"Eeew!" one of the girls commented on the barfing part.

"Of course in my opinion, I find it odd that even if the gods were immortal, that they survived in rock head's stomach all the those years. Heh, look at me little brother, I am still alive and covered in stomach acid, let's hug!" Naruto joked, making people snicker.

Behind the two everyone heard Nancy Bobofit mumble, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."

"And why, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Uzumaki." Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted." Grover muttered

"Shut up!" Nancy barked at Grover, her face going redder then her hair.

"I don't know." Percy shrugged, a little relieved that Nancy was picked as well.

"Ya got me." Naruto said, "Maybe if we go to Greece we need to know this stuff."

"I see." Mr. Brunner said, a bit disappointed. "Well half credit to you both. Zues did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who of course, being immortal Gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys rough housing like normal and acting like morons. Grover, Percy, and Naruto were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr Jackson, Mr. Uzumaki."

They told Grover to keep one going while they handled whatever wheels was going to say to them. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look, like he knew a lot more then he let on and that had seen too much.

"You two must learn the answer to my question."

"About the Titans?" Percy asked.

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh." The boys mumbled, though Naruto had the sinking feeling that the man was talking about both things.

"What you boys learn from me," he started, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will only accept the best from both of you, Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki." This made both of the boys a bit angry at the man, sure he was cool in class when he set up those tournament days, but the man was pushing the two of them a bit hard.

Percy mumbled something about trying harder while Naruto just nodded his head as they left to go eat. Naruto noticed that Mr. Brunner gave a long sad look at the _stele._ It was odd to say the least. Heh, maybe the guy knew the girl…..not likely.

XXXX

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where they could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. The boys noticed that storm clouds were brewing. "Hey Naruto, what do you think is going on…with the weather and all?"

Naruto gave the boy a 'are-you-serious' look. "You're asking me? I am not the freaking weather man, but odd crap like this has been going on for a bit. You see it all over the news nowadays. Strange this is, no one else seems to notice the clouds other than us."

With that, the two boys joined Grover as the fountain and sat down to eat. It was away from the others so they would not be bothered and the fact that Percy didn't like being part of the school in the first made it seem that were not part of the school for freaks. Of course, Naruto didn't care but he was at first cheesed that he had to a school like this.

"Detention?' asked Grover.

"Nah," Percy answered, "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean…I am not a genius."

Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "Heh, it is like he knows something about us. Hey, maybe we are related to some old Greek God." The boys looked at each other and then burst out laughing, though for Grover it was a nervous laugh.

After bit, they were quiet. Then Grover asked for Percy's apple and the boy gave it to him. Percy seemed a little lot in thought. "Thinking about your mom?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, we are kind of close to her place. I hope she is doing alright, I mean she has been living with Gabe after all." Percy said, a little angry about her still with Gabe.

"Dude, I am sure she is alright. She put up with that slob this far, I am sure can do it alittle bit more. Still don't see what she sees in that guy though." Naruto commented.

Percy nodded and was about to unwrap his sandwich when Nancy Bobofit and her annoying friends came over and got brave by dumping her lunch on Grover, making Naruto and Percy glare at her.

"Oops." She drawled out while smirking at Percy, as if daring him to do something about. That and Naruto did not have a paper football help some. Naruto could tell that Percy was pissed and was trying to keep his temper down and was failing miserably. Then something weird happened. The water from the fountain rose up and pushed her onto her butt. He saw it perfectly because it had pulled his shadow up to hit her.

That is not what she saw though. "Percy and Naruto pushed me!" Then that old bitch, Miss Dodds came right up to them with a hard glare. Around them they heard whispers of what happened. Apparently, Naruto was not the only one to see the water and the shadows move.

After the old crone had made her Nancy was alright, she turned the two boys and started off with that "Now honey" crap, but Percy beat her to it. "I know." Percy grumbled, "a month of erasing workbooks." Naruto just sighed; this old hag was probably going to give him something worse.

Though, it would seem that was not the right thing for Percy to say. "Both of you, come with me!"

"Wait!' Grover spoke, "It was me! I pushed her!" We both started at Grover for that. Percy was stunned that Grover was trying to cover for them. Naruto was put off that Grover wanted the punishment for them.

The old crone didn't seem to by it and glared at him so hard that his chin trembled. He was scared of the old crone after all. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood."

"But-"

"You-will-stay-here!" Miss Dodds forcefully said each word with anger, making Grover shrink a bit.

"It is ok man." Percy said to his friend while Naruto nodded.

With that, they left with Percy giving Nancy an evil glare while Naruto slowly took out a paper football, making the girl pale. That only made Naruto smirk. Though, when they looked back to Miss Dodds, she was already at the entrance of the museum. The boy's looked at each other, thinking how the hell did she get over there so fast? Naruto got a gut feeling that this was not a good thing.

XXXX

The boys walked to the end of the entrance, thinking that the old crone was going to make them buy a shirt to replace Nancy's wet one but that seem to not be the case because they walked right passed the gift shop. _Something is not right. How far into the museum does she need to take us to bitch at us?_ Naruto thought as they walked deeper into the museum. He looked to that Percy had the same thoughts as him.

The small group made it back to the Greek and Roman gallery of the museum to find the place completely empty. They heard her growl as she looked at the marble picture of the Greek Gods. "You boys have been making trouble for us." She said suddenly. This made the boy's look at her oddly. Percy was thinking about the candy he was selling while Naruto was thinking about the way he has been doing his homework and selling some of it to people who did not do theirs. "Well?"

"Uh, I am not sure what you are talking about." Naruto replied.

"Ma'am, I don't…" Percy started but the old crone didn't let him finish.

"Your time is up!" She hissed ominously. Then the weirdness came. Her eyes began to glow like barbeque coals. Her fingers stretched, into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She was not human that was for sure. She was pretty much an old bitch with bat wings and craws and a mouth full of yellow fangs and it seemed that she was the boys as her next meal.

"Please tell me you see that too." Naruto whispered to Percy to fearfully nodded. "Good, then I am not going insane." That is when things got even weirder, because Mr. Brunner, who had been reading a book at the entrance, was at the entrance of the gallery with a pen and some guitar key chains in his hands.

"What ho, boys!" The man yelled to them as he threw the items at them.

That was when the old crone lunged at Percy. Naruto, thinking fast, made a seal appear on his pants and kunai holster appeared. He then took out two of the black knives and threw them at whatever Miss Dodds had turned into. "Get away from my friend you psycho hag!" while he old had dodged that; he then saw Percy catch the pen, but the odd thing was that it had turned to a goldish sword. He then caught the guitar key chains in both hands in time to flip out of the way of Miss Dodds' claws.

Percy's eyes widened when he saw his friend's new weapons. In Naruto's right had was a red hilted blade and where the blade meets the hilt was a fierce looking fox. The blade looked to be shooting out of the mouth of the fox and it was orange. The other blade was black hilted and instead of a fox design, it was black dragon with red eyes. The blade on it was black as well.

Naruto rolled over to where Percy was and looked at Miss Dodds. She was getting up from her strike at Naruto and she looked pretty intimidating. Percy looked shaken by this, and it did not help that Naruto was a bit scared too. He had never fought something like this before! Then, she charged at the boys and they only they thought of were to stab her and they did. Just as their blades met, the old crone burst in a shower of yellow powder. It was like she vaporized on the spot with nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech that sent chills up their spines. There was an evil chill in the air, like those creepy eyes were watching their every move.

The boys were now alone in the gallery once more. They looked back to their weapons and were shocked to find something different in their possession. Percy had and gold ballpoint pen when Naruto had two black wrist band with the depicted animal on the guitar attachments on the wrist bands.

"Ok…." Naruto said out loud, "I think we should get back to the others….something odd is defiantly going on here."

"Right." Percy agreed when he saw that Mr. Brunner was not in the room they were in.

Back outside, it had started raining. Grover was using his museum map as a tent to keep himself from getting too wet, while Nancy was still wet from earlier. She looked to them and smirked. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butts!"

"Who?" Percy let out.

"Our teacher, duh!"

The boys blinked, asking who that was but all she did was walk away. They asked Grover where the old crone was, but he just gave them an odd look and asked, "Who?" But he did pause first before saying it, like he knew something was going on.

"Not funny man." Percy said, "This is serious." He didn't answer as thunder boomed overhead.

Shaking his head, Naruto lead Percy over to Mr. Brunner, who was under a red umbrella reading his book, like he never moved. He looked up distracted and asked, "Ah. My pen and good luck charms. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson. Oh and thank you for finding my good luck charms, Mr. Uzumaki." He said as they boys handed the items to him.

"Sir," Percy started, "where is Miss Dodds?"

"Who?" He said with a blank face.

"You know, the other chaperone, the math teacher." Naruto explained.

"Boys, there is now Miss Dodds on this trip, nor is there one in the school. Are you boys feeling alright?" He asked concerned.

The boys just sighed and left, making their way back to Grover. On the way back, Naruto muttered out, "I think we just entered the Twilight Zone."

**Ok I got a few questions for you all. One, should Naruto teach the campers about chakra and jutsu? Two, can someone tell me WHY Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades hate each other? Three, Cane some one give me a link to an online version of The Lightning Thief. Trust me, if I could copy and paste part of this story, the updating would go much faster.**

**Review. Please tell what you guy like and don't like so far.**


	3. Neji was right!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 3**

**If anyone got confused about Naruto weapon in travel form, well they were originally Key Chains, not keyblades. These Key Chains are attached to wrist bands that were created for travel. Polls for the Chakra teaching idea. **

**Yes: 2**

**No: 2**

**Only Big Three Kids: 3**

**It is really up to you guys because I can do either one. I only suggested it because it would make everyone a lot more powerful. Thalia would get Lightning Jutsu(Chidori). Percy would get Water Jutsu. Aphrodite…heh, Sexy Jutsu and Love Jutsu, this is one is a laugh though. Anyway….up to you, vote at the end please.**

**On with the show!**

Life after the freak show went on like normal, well as normal as it could get in this school. For the rest of the year both the boys were a bit put off by the revelation that Miss Dodds never existed. In her place was a perky blond woman names Mrs. Kerr. When either of the boys would ask something about the old hag, people just looked at the like they were nuts! Naruto, however, did like the new teacher thought. She was a refreshing change from the old crone.

Though everyone else seemed to not even know what the hell they were talking about, Grover seemed like he did. He would always hesitate before denying it though. He was such a bad liar.

Something was going on. They knew that something _had _happened at the museum.

Anyway, that freak storm continued and one time it blew out the windows in Percy's apartment. Luckily, Naruto offered him a place to stay until things were fixed and ready to go at his place. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty from Yancy Academy, which was scary in itself, luckily they didn't get hurt.

Percy started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. His grades slipped from Ds to Fs. He got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. He was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Naruto was in some of his class he was feeling the same way, he stayed under control….most of the time. Something odd was going on and they were somehow affected, and it was getting really annoying.

Though when Percy got in trouble for calling their English teacher an old sot, whatever that meant, the school sent a letter his mom telling her that Percy would not be allowed back next year, the boy's mood lifted….but just a little bit. Naruto could tell Percy missed his mom because he hated that fact that she was with Gabe of all people. The kid was homesick, no surprise there.

Naruto sighed he came to reality, exam week was come up soon and he, like Percy and Grover had to study. Like Shikamaru says, it is going to be troublesome.

XXXX

The night before the exams started, Naruto and Percy decided to have a study session at Percy's dorm. Throughout the night, Naruto could see that Percy was getting more and more agitated. Finally he threw his book across the room.

"Temper temper" Naruto commented, trying liven up the atmosphere.

"Sorry but bow the hell am I supposed to know the difference Chiron and Charon!"

"Simple, one has an I and the other has an A in their name." Naruto smartly said with smirk. Percy slapped his face and gave Naruto a glare. "Ok, let me help you then. Chiron, the one with the I, is half horse and trains heroes. Then we have Charon, the one with the A, he is the ferry man of the dead who is a greed ass. The dude loves Olympian money!"

"Is that how you remember everything? Give it a short description and/or insult them?" Percy asked while trying to hide a smirk.

"Heh, easier for me to remember stuff like that." Naruto smiled. "But my way might be best for you. Everyone has a different way of remembering stuff."

"Yeah." Percy said. "I can't believe I am saying this but I think I should go see Mr. Brunner, he might have a way that is good for me."

"Want me to come?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, so I don't feel like a total idiot going down there." Percy replied and got up to get his book. Naruto just laughed.

They walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr.

Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. They were three steps from the door handle when the duo heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner

asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy and Naruto, sir."

The boys froze at that. They nodded and leaned in to eavesdrop, not that they did it a lot but when a friend is talking about you to a teacher, you'd want to what was going on.

"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and _they_ know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boys to mature more."

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline— "

"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"Sir, they saw her... ."

"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince them of that."

"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy and Naruto alive until next fall—"

The mythology book that Percy had brought with him fell to the floor and Naruto's eyes widened in panic as all went silent. As soon as Percy grabbed the book, Naruto grabbed Percy and they ran for it. Percy saw something larger than Mr. Brunner come out of the room he steered them to a nearby room to hide for a bit.

A few seconds later they heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside the door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.

Both the boys were sweating, that was too close.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me." They heard Grover whine.

When the lights went off in Mr. Brunner's office went off, they bolted out of the room they were hiding like a bat out hell. When they made it back to Percy's dorm, he locked the door. "Ok, now we know for sure something is going on!"

"Yeah, but what and who would want us dead. I mean, they talked as if someone was after us." Naruto pondered.

"Hey, you can stay the night." Percy said. "I mean, you're the ninja here and if anything happens we would have a better chance at surviving."

"Fine with me…" Naruto said. He then sighed, "I just hope we survive the exams."

Percy paled and then hung his head, once again reminded of the exams and why they went down there in the first place. "I am so screwed."

Just then Grover walked in like nothing had happened. "Hey, how are you guys doing on the studying?" When they both hung their heads and didn't say anything, he got worried. "You guys ok?"

Naruto answered, "Yep, we are so screwed."

XXXX

The next afternoon, they finally got out of their THREE HOUR LATIN EXAM! "Three hours of that madness!" Naruto complained, test back home were never like this!

"Ugh, my eyes are swimming with all the Greek and Roman names that I misspelled." Percy complained as he held his head. Unfortunately, Mr. Brunner called them back in.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best." He then turned to Naruto and asked. "What about you?"

"Well, I am split between staying here for Grover's sake or going where ever Percy goes so he won't be the only new kid. Oh and don't worry, I am used to hopping around." _Mostly hopping dimensions but you don't need to know that._ When they were talking Percy was getting annoyed by the Nancy Bobofit who, like some others, was still taking the test.

"I see." Mr Brunner commented. "I guess this place is not the right place for you boys then. It it only a matter of time."

Naruto glance at Percy sadly to see that Percy was upset. I mean, his favorite teacher at this dump of a school and in front of a whole freaking class, was telling him that he couldn't handle it here. This made Naruto pissed off. Percy was his best friend in this land after all.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy and neither are you Naruto. That's nothing to be—"

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

"Percy—" He called out but Percy was already out the door.

Naruto looked from the door to Mr. Brunner and scowled. "Way to choose your words Mr. Brunner." Naruto said as he left to chase after his friend.

XXXX

On the last day of the term, Naruto watched as Percy shoved his clothes into his suitcase. They listened to the other guys brag about where they were going this summer. Those idiots may be juvenile delinquents, but they were also rich juvenile delinquents. One of them asked Percy and Naruto where they were going.

"My home in the city for the summer." Percy replied.

"Same here." Naruto said, scaring Percy since he did know he had arrived yet.

"When did you get here?" Percy asked while the others went back to what they were doing, as if the two didn't exist since they were nobodies to them.

"Heh, a few minutes ago man." chuckled Naruto.

"Oh." Percy replied.

"So remind me again why I am going with you to your place for the day?" Naruto said.

"Well, you can tell I have been a bit peeved lately and you usually help out when I am in a bad mood. So, I guess I need to you to keep me in check because Gabe is going to really piss me off."

"Noted." Naruto commented, and then his eyes lit up. "You know, I live right in the middle. You know, from your apartment to the school. I just noticed that."

"Good. then you can come over more often." Percy mumbled as they left the school dorms to get on a bus, though he was wondering how Naruto got from his home to school in time for class. _Must be a ninja thing…_

XXXX

Both boys were dreading how they were going to say good bye to Grover but luckily for them, he was on the bus they were on. The whole bus ride, they saw that Grover was very fidgety, like he was expecting something to come out the works to come after him or us. He was like this every time they left the school campus…odd.

Though Percy was getting annoyed by it and he blurted out, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" Naruto smacked his head while Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"

They boy confessed about eavesdropping on his and Mr. Brunner's conversation the night before the exams.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?" Percy asked

"And is that too much for you?" Naruto smirked.

He winced. "Look, guys ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about

demon math teachers ..."

"Grover/Dude-"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you guys were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."

"Dude you suck at lying." Naruto blurted out making Grover sputter and his ear turn pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a couple of grubby business cards. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer." The card was in fancy script, which was murder on their dyslexic eyes, but they finally made out something like:

_Grover Underwood_

_Keeper_

_Half-Blood Hill_

_Long Island, New York_

_(800) 009-0009_

"What's Half—" Percy started.

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address." That made Naruto's eyes roll. There was something really odd going on, that was for sure.

Percy looked at little sad that even Grover had a summer home like the other people at school. _At least Naruto is like me and lives close. _"Okay," he said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."

He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."

"Why would I need you?" Percy growled out harshly, surprising even Naruto.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have

to protect you, both of you." He said making the boys look at him oddly. I mean, they were the one who had to protect him in the school!

"Grover," Percy said, "what exactly are you protecting us from?"

Before he could answer, there was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound bus over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that

They'd all have to get off. Percy, Naruto, and Grover filed outside with everybody else.

They were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there.

On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

"Talk about being in the middle of nowhere." Naruto commented while hitting the back of his head on the bus. Raising an eyebrow he took a look at the fruit stand on the other side of the street. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks they'd ever seen. These where no ordinary socks, they were as big as sweaters! Who wears socks that big?

The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The creepy thing was, is that they were staring right at Percy and Naruto. "Talk about creepy." Naruto commented. "Hey Grover…" Whatever Naruto was going to ask died in his throat.

"You ok man?" Percy asked when he saw Grover's face.

They looked at Grover to see that all the color had drained out of him, that and his nose was twitching. "Tell m, are they looking at you two? They are aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" asked Percy in a joking manner.

"Not likely." Naruto replied, getting really freaked out. "I don't think they would even fit the fattest priest!"

"Not funny you two. Not funny at all." Grover whined.

"What is eating you?" Naruto asked. Grover only pointed to the old ladies.

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. They heard Grover catch his breath.

"We're getting on the bus," he told them. "Come on."

"What?" Percy said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."

"You actually like the heat Grover?' Naruto asked/complained.

"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside while the duo stay back for a bit. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching them. The middle one cut the yarn, which they could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for, probably for big foot or the man in the moon. Naruto rolled his eyes and climbed into the bus.

"Come on, let go see Grover before he pisses himself."

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment, the bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life and everyone cheered. "Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

"Oh just in time." Naruto drawled as he walked to the back with Percy.

Once the bus got going, Percy got all feverish like he got the flu while Naruto started sweating and complaining about the heat. Grover was not any better but he was chatting his teeth like he was cold.

"Grover?" asked Percy.

"Yeah?"

"What are you not telling us?"

Grover dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you two see back at the fruit stand?"

"A few old ladies with way too much time on their hand." Naruto replied while putting a hand on his forehead and wiping off the sweat.

"Yeah." Percy smirked but lost it at Grover serious face. "Wait, they're not like Miss Dodds are they?"

The look he gave them made it seem worse. What could be worse?

"Just tell me what you saw."

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." Percy shrugged, like it was nothing

Grover closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself,

but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost…older. Now that is odd. He said, "You saw her snip the cord."

"Yeah. So?" Percy replied, getting the feeling like it was something big.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this

to be like the last time."

"What last time." The boys asked, getting freaked out as much as Grover was now.

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth." Grover mumbled to himself again.

"Grover," Percy said, because he was really starting to get scared. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you two home from the bus station. Promise me." This seemed like a strange request but they promised he could.

"It is no problem, I am going over to his place anyway." Naruto replied.

"Uh…is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked, but got no answer. "Grover…that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

He looked at the two mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers that would be best on their coffins.

That is when the cogs of Naruto's mind started churning and rapidly. The things that have been happening lately and all the Greek Mythology they had been learning finally caught up to him. Those three old crones were something that he paled at. "Oh crap."

"What?" Percy said, freaked out that Naruto was scared now.

"Neji was right…Fate or in this case Fates do exist." Naruto replied, while Percy and Grover gawked at him.

**Third chapter is done! Hope you all like it. Please review and vote in the reviews.**


	4. Gabe is Pwned! Gover has what?

**Naruto: Prince of Underworld**

**Chapter 4**

**Hey everyone. I did find the torrents for the Percy Jackson series. I used a program called Vuze to find it for me. So, I guess you could say I have all the books online and in real life! I will post as much as I can but since I am starting up college again AND Working…i will do my best. Now, a lot people didn't want Naruto to teach the camp Jutsu. But you guys also just wanted him to teach Thalia and Percy. So here is what I am going to do, since they sort of already have their versions of jutsu…I will just have Naruto help the two of them recreate Jutsu like Chidori. So they will not actually be chakra jutsu…I hope that is ok. Oh and when Naruto gets to camp, I am going to have a few girls have a crush on him but don't worry. It will end of Naruto/Thalia.**

The rest of bus ride they listened to Grover freak out to himself the whole way . So it was not a surprise that when it was over that Grover had to go to the can. You see, when Grover get upset, his bladder act up. So when Grover went to the bathroom at the bus station, the boys quickly got away. Percy hailed a cab and they jumped in.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," Percy told the driver. While Naruto made the Shadow Clone hand sign. Percy looked at him oddly when nothing happened. "Uh, what was that about?"

As the yellow cab drove them away from the bus station Naruto replied, "I made one outside. You know Grover will freak out as he had been about not being able to protect you. Besides….i think it is time he knows what I can do."

Percy gave Naruto a small smile and said, "You know you are going to give him a heart attack."

Naruto gave Percy a smirk as they travelled to his mom's apartment. Along the way, Percy told Naruto all about his mom. "My mom's name is Sally Jackson and she is the best person in the world! That also proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck." Percy said as Naruto nodded having heard that from him a few weeks ago.

XXXX

Grover got out of the bathroom and looked around for Percy and Naruto. He only saw Naruto with his arms crossed. "Hey Naruto, where is Percy?"

"He went home." 'Naruto' replied, making Grover's eyes widen. "Don't worry though, I am with him."

"What? How can that be possible you are right here!" Grover freaked.

"Grover, Mr. Brunner was right. Percy is not normal and in a sense, neither am I." 'Naruto' explained, making Grover sweat under the blond's gaze. "Weird shit has been going on lately and it has been going on most of Percy's life. Me on the other hand, I think that stuff is a bit normal, the thing with people trying to kill you." 'Naruto' then looked around them to see that the bus station was completely empty, everyone had left a while ago. "I know I am not normal because I have powers that normal humans don't have…..remember that Grover because that help me protect Percy like you want." 'Naruto's' form them faltered a bit before it went up in a hail of shadows flying into the nearby shadows. Grover had a look of pure shock on his face.

"No way…"

XXXX

The demi god duo made it to Percy's apartment and paid. Percy looked up at the apartment nervously and said, "Naruto, are you sure want to come in….Smelly Gabe is a real jerk and he will not be any different to you."

Naruto smile with a bit of annoyance. "Yeah Percy. You told me about your mom and all her history and I still can't figure why she is with this Gabe. Don't worry, I won't anger him…much."

"I am getting a bad feeling about this." Percy said as they entered the building, hoping his mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

_Wow….it is worse than I expected._ Naruto thought with a deadpanned expression.

Hardly looking up, Gabe said around his cigar, "So, you're home….who is your loser friend?"

"Naruto. Where's my mom?" Percy replied shortly.

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?" That made Percy rolled his eyes. _ What no Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months? Figures…_

Percy noticed that Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

This guy managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. It was a wonder why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made Percy nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever Percy was home, he expected him to provide his gambling funds. He called that their "guy secret." Meaning, if he told his mom, he would punch his lights out. Of course Naruto knew as he had told him along the way. Naruto was not happy about that.

"I don't have any cash," Naruto heard Percy tell him, which made the man raise a greasy eyebrow. Percy had told Naruto that the man could smell money but not much else, which was very odd.

"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at Percy with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys, Naruto noticed, passed gas in harmony.

"Fine," Percy said. He dug a wad of dollars out of his pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."

Before anything could be said or done. Naruto put a hand on Percy's shoulder and the money. Percy looked at Naruto oddly before he noticed the gleam in Naruto's eye. Oh, Gabe was so screwed. "How about I play? You can take _my_ money if _I_ lose." Naruto said. Percy smirk, he knew from experience, and a lot of others at school too, that Naruto never lost at card games, and he didn't even know how to play some of them!

"What? A brat like you?" Gabe said, eyeing Naruto.

"Afraid of being beat by a kid?" Naruto smirked. "Besides, I got a hundred dollars, are you going to pass up on that?"

That got Gabe's attention. Even though he was mad, Naruto did have money. He would win it from this brat and rub it in his face. "Fine…sit down and play."

"Good." Naruto sat down and leaned over to Percy. "This will be over soon. You should get settled in…it is your place after all."

As the game began, Percy nodded and left. He hoped Gabe would so lose to Naruto. He slammed the door to his room, which really wasn't his room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." The man didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but Gabe loved shoving Percy's stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

Percy dropped his suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. _Oh joy._

As he thought about other stuff, he didn't know how much time had passed. He walked to his door in time to here two things. Gabe's crying out, which e knew from experience that it was the cry of a loser and his mom calling him. It seemed that she was home now. _I think this day just got better._

She open the door and looked at Percy with a smile on her face. "Oh, Percy." She hugged him tightly. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"

"Thanks mom." Percy said. Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought him a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when he came home.

"So who is your friend out there beating everyone at poker?"

"Oh, that is Naruto Uzumaki. He is a good friend from school." Percy replied.

"Good to know you have a friend!" Saslly Jackson said softly as she hugged him again. Percy then began to tell her all about his school year at Yancy Academy. It seriously was not as bad as the headmaster said it was. He didn't really tell her much about the museum because it still freaked him out. "Did something scare you?"

"No mom." Percy lied. "But what ever happened seemed to revolve around both me and Naruto." He said making her eyes widen.

_So, Percy found a friend like himself. That is good because if he ever got to that world, he would really need a friend. _ Mrs. Jackson thought to herself.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

_Figures, even if he is beaten, he is still a jerk!_ Percy thought while grinding his teeth.

"Oh never mind. Your brat of a friend got it for us!" came Gabe's voice again.

Percy gave a weak smile when he heard that. _I so owe you for this Naruto._

"I have a surprise for you," Sally said. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widened. "Montauk?"

"Three nights—same cabin."

"When?"

She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."

He couldn't believe it. They hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money. He then looked at her hopeful and said, "Can Naruto come too? He can pay I am sure after the beating he gave Gabe."

She laughed and nodded her head. "I don't see the problem with that."

With that they left his room and walked out to see a steaming Gabe and a smirking Naruto. Gabe's friends were looking at Naruto like he was the poker god. Gabe looked at them and regain his composer and said, "You were in there a long time."

"Oh we were just talking about the trip." Sally said happily.

Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

"I knew it," Percy muttered. "He won't let us go."

"Of course he will," his mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money.

That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough

seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."

Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right, because I lost most of mine to this brat." The fat man said while jutting his pudgy finger at Naruto, who had an innocent look on his face.

"Yes, honey," Sally said.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful."

Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

_Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot_, Percy thought. _And make you sing soprano for a week._ He looked to his mom and it was a silent agreement that he had to be nice to Gabe if this was going to work. "I'm sorry," Percy muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."

Gabe narrowed his eyes, trying to detect sarcasm in what Percy said. "Yeah, whatever." He then turned to Naruto. "No more for you. Go away."

Naruto just shrugged and walked over to Percy and his mom. "Oh, Naruto, would you like to come with us?" She asked.

"Uh, sure. Are you sure you want someone like me on board?"

"Yes, you are Percy's friend after all, so you must be a good kid." Sally replied, making Gabe rolled his eyes.

"Ok then. I hope you don't mind me paying for my stuff since I now have quite a bit of money." Naruto said pocketing his money which was about 500 dollars. He smirked with he heard Gabe complain about having to pay for Naruto's trip.

"Thank you." Sally said with a smile because she heard it too. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about...whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?" She said to Percy. Naruto just knew that he told his mom about a little of what happened. "Oh Naruto, do we need to go to your place for you to pack?"

Before Gabe could complain, Naruto replied, "Nah, I got my stuff with me. Since I hung out at Percy's dorm at lot, I hardly ever went home to my apartment, which is the halfway point from here to school."

"Oh…ok then" Mrs. Jackson said, thinking that Naruto probably left his stuff somewhere near here. She then gave Percy a smile and went to make the dip for the fat dip.

An hour later, they were all ready to go. Naruto had a back pack on now and Sally wondered where it had come from. Percy just smiled,_ If only you knew mom…_

Gabe watched as Naruto and Percy put all the bags in the car. The ugly man groaned about losing his wife's cooking and then his car all weekend which, unlike him, was cool. It was a '78 Camaro. "Not a scratch on this car, brain boy, poker brat," he warned them as they loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

Naruto just gave him a saluted as the fat man lumbered back in the apartment. He knew that gabe really pissed Percy off and he now understood why. He was getting pissed at this guy as well. He then say Percy make that odd gesture that Grover did on the bus and whatever he did worked because as soon Smelly Gabe was in the doorway, the screen door slammed shut and probably sent the man flying.

The two boys quickly got in the car and Percy told his mom to step on it as they didn't want to feel Gabe's wrath. After a bit, Naruto could not help but laugh at what he was happened. Though, that weird gesture Percy used had energy similar to Chakra. Odd.

XXXX

Once they got there, Naruto smiled as he loved places like this. They set their stuff in the cabin that they got and messed around til it was dark out. They were currently sitting around a small fire, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.

"Mom…what was my father like." Percy asked with some courage.

"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his

black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."

Percy looked a little sad at that. Naruto thought that the kid was thinking about how his father would be proud of him with all that happened.

"How old was I?" Percy asked. "I mean ... when he left?"

She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this

beach. This cabin."

"But... he knew me as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before

you were born." She said and then looked to Naruto, who had been silent for the conversation. "Naruto, what are your parents like?"

Naruto chuckled a bit, but it was hollow. "I am an orphan. I never really knew my parents. But I was given some stuff of my fathers. He had a journal that described my mom to be a fiery and tomboyish red head. She loved pranks as much as I do and she was also a very caring person. I was told she died in childbirth. Now I heard that my dad was the best fighter around and an all-around nice guy, though if what I read is right, my mom wore the pants in that relationship." That made Percy chuckle a bit and his mom had a big smile on her face.

"I am sorry about that." Sally said. "Who is talking care of you?"

"Don't be. My grandfather was taking care of my before he died." Naruto said, not wanting to tell them that he was killed. "But I have been doing pretty well on my own anyway.

Then Percy had a sad look. He didn't know if his mom even wanted him around. He didn't think he could handle being alone like Naruto. "Are you going to send me away again?" Percy asked her. "To another boarding school?"

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire. "I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" but he regretted the words as soon as they were out.

Her eyes welled with tears. She took his hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I

have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

This made Naruto quirk an eyebrow._ Ok….the way she is saying this means she knows something like Gover and Mr. Brunner._

"Because I'm not normal," Percy suddenly said.

. "You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I

thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."

"Safe from what?" Percy asked though when he locked eyes with her, all the memories of weird shit happening to him had surfaced.

Before anything else was said, Naruto cut in. "Percy, not being normal is not that bad. I mean look at me. I have…this powers and I am fine."

Mrs. Jackson looked at him oddly and he sighed knowing that he would have to show her. He held out his hand and swirling ball of energy formed in his hand.

Percy's eyes widened and said, "You never showed that one to me….only those Shadow Clones."

_Shadow? Could he be just like Percy, a son of the big three? _Sally thought as she eyed the ball before it dissipated. She gave Naruto a grateful look and continued on.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," She said to Percy. "They told me that was a

mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And

I just... I just can't stand to do it."

"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"

"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp and apparently it is a place you both need to go to."

Both boys just looked at her oddly. Naruto never heard anything about a camp in the letter he got from his dad.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in his eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I

couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..." Percy trialed off as he saw the tears in his mom's eyes.

XXXX

It was storming out but both boys were sound asleep and they were having the same exact dream:

It was storming on the beach, and three beautiful animals, a white horse, a golden eagle, and pitch black raven were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. Well the raven was not doing much. It just hovered in midair, watching the two fight and only with a mild look of interest. Of course it would attack at certain times. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. The raven then decided to claw at the eagle a bit before doing the same to the horse. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

Percy and Naruto ran toward them, knowing they had to stop them from killing each other, but the problem was that they were running in slow motion. They knew they would be too late. They saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, while the raven decide to help out it's flying companion. The two boys had enough and screamed, _No_!

Thankfully it was just a dream and they woke up with a start like it was a nightmare. Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse, eagle, or raven on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery. Though everyone once in a while they saw that the lightning was covered in black fire or sometimes they also saw steaming hot water fly up into the sky, but it was a sickly black color. This shit NEVER happeneds!

With the next thunderclap, Percy's mom awoke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."

Percy knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the

ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, he heard a distant bellow, an angry,

tortured sound that made his hair stand on end.

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling,

pounding on our cabin door.

Mrs. Jackson sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock. Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.

"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you two thinking?"

Mrs. Jackson looked at them in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

They boy were too shocked at the moment to register that however. Because, instead of normal legs, Grover had legs that were like an animal's, sort of like a donkey or maybe a goat.

"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" Grover yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

"You mean the Kindly One you blabbed about or the old crones who are the Fates?" Naruto shouted above the noise, making Percy's mom widen her eyes in horror.

She grabbed her purse, tossed Percy and Naruto a rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. All of you. Go!"

Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. That would explain how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.

"Yep…we have entered the Twilight Zone." Naruto mumbled. "But _what_ is coming after us?" He never got an answer because Grover quickly got in the car, not hearing him. He sigh and got in, going with the flow.

**Hope you all liked it. Please Review.**


	5. That bull is on Steroids!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 5**

**Here is an odd question for you all. Do you all want Naruto to be 13 in this story so when he meets Thalia, he will be near her age. I just assumed he was 12. So vote on that please….in the reviews.**

The group tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. The boys honestly didn't know how Percy's mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.

Naruto looked at Grover oddly and when the lightning flashed, he saw those goat legs. He sighed, already knowing what he was and knew that Grover was on their side….hopefully.

"So, you and my mom... know each other?" Percy asked, not able to stay silent

Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind them. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."

"Watching me?"

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."

"Um ... what are you, exactly?" Percy asked.

"That doesn't matter right now."

"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"

Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!" Naruto could tell that Grover a bit ticked but he gaffed, that was really funny to him.

"Goat!" Grover cried.

"What?"

Once getting hisself under control, Naruto helped the poor guy out. "Percy, he is a Satyr….a being that is Half human and Half goat."

"Huh? But….you would mean Mr. Brunner's myths?"

"You paid attention to that?" Naruto smirked. "Let's throw a party!" Percy just glared at him. "Ok ok. Anyway, with the way Grover reacted, I am assuming that other Satyr would trample you for that donkey remark."

"I thought it didn't matter." Percy shot back while Grover bleeted again.

"Obviously it does." Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Wait, so all that Mr. Brunner taught us was actually preparing us for this stuff?"

"Pretty much." Grover said.

"Great…" Naruto replied sarcastically. "Just what we need. Freaky monsters coming after us."

"Not only that, but those three old ladies were the Fates and not myths and neither was Mrs. Dodds." Grover told them.

"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!" Percy exclaimed.

"Of course."

"Ok, so what was the point of hiding the fact that she was real?" Naruto asked.

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You both started to realize who you are."

"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, you lost me as well." Naruto deadpanned.

The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.

"Percy," his mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you two to safety."

"Safety from what? Who's after us?" Percy asked while Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"Grover!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?" Grover replied.

"What, you mean Hades?" Naruto replied and the ground shook a bit and Grover nodded a little panicked.

While the boys were trying to wrap their heads around all this madness, Percy's mom made a hard left. They swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and 'Pick your own Strawberries' signs on white picket fences.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"The summer camp I told you about." His mother's voice was tight; she was trying for Percy's sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."

"The place you didn't want me to go."

"Please, dear," his mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."

"Because some old ladies cut yarn?" Percy asked and Naruto sighed.

"Man…if you paid attention in class why that is bad." Naruto said. "When they cut the yarn…that means someone is going to die!"

"Exactly." Grover said, "the fact they appeared in front of you two, they only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."

"Whoa-you said 'you'!" Percy freaked.

"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'" Grover replied.

"Still not very helpful." Naruto said.

"Yeah, you meant _me!_" Percy said.

"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, _you_."

"God, I hope it is not me or you." Naruto replied

"Boys!" Percy's mom said. She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and they got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.

"The hell was that!" Naruto freaked.

"We're almost there," Mrs. Jackson said, ignoring Naruto's question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."

They didn't know what 'there' was but it had to be safe from whatever the hell was chasing them. _It is not Mrs. Dodd,s that is for sure. Whatever it is, its bigger and stronger than last time. This is reminding me of the Wave Mission only we are fleeing for our lives!_

While Naruto was thinking that, Percy was thinking about the blades Mr. Brunner had thrown to them. Before he could as Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom, and the car exploded. It was an odd feeling being blown up, like you were, weightless, crushed, burned, and being hosed down all at the sometime.

Percy pried his forehand off the driver's seat in front him as his mom called out to him. "Ugh…I am fine" He said.

He heard Naruto mutter out a "Super" as they noticed the car was still intact because it was in a ditch. They sighed in relief that they were not dead….not yet anyway. While Naruto was trying to regain his bearings, Percy noticed that Grover looked unconscious. "Grover!"

"Food…" He groaned.

Naruto sweatdropped at that, yeah, he was going to be fine.

"Percy," his mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered, because when the lightning flashed, they saw a huge figure through the mud splashed window.

"Hello." Naruto said surprised.

"Boys," Percy's mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car." She tried the driver's said but all the mud was blocking their way out. "Passenger's side. Get out now and run to the big tree!" She yelled pointing to a large tree in the distance as they got out.

"What?" Percy replied, confused until the lightning flashed and a large pine tree in the distance appeared and that thing was huge!

"That's the property line," his mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom, you're coming too."

Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.

"No!" Percy shouted. "You are coming with us. Help me carry Grover."

"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.

Naruto growled and yelled above the rain. "Give him to me! We will get there faster that way!" Percy nodded and gave Grover to Naruto and turned back to mom to see the creature coming towards them. It was huge! That and it seemed that it had fur on it!"

Naruto turned to look at it and yelled, "Holy cow!"

"There is nothing Holy about that creature and it is not a cow." Mrs. Jackson was able to shout out.

Naruto looked at her with a deadpanned expression that said, 'Duh!' and looked at it again and he saw horns jutting out its head. Yeah, not a cow but a bull! Still it was not good!

"He doesn't want _us_," Mrs Jackson called out. "He just wants you two. Besides, I can't cross the property line."

"But..." Percy and Naruto started to say.

"We don't have time. Go. Please."

This just mad Percy mad and he went over to his mother and helped t out all the way. "We're going together. Come on, Mom." Naruto just smirked at Percy's stubbornness, just like him in some aspects.

"I told you-"

"Mom! I am not leaving you. Come on!"

They got a portion of the way but the monster was gaining on them and quick! Naruto looked at it again and his eyes widened. "Holy crap….that thing looks like it is on Steroids!" he said, commenting on all the bulging and rippling muscles on that thing.

Percy blinked owlishly, recognizing this creature from Mr. Brunner's class, "That's-"

"Pasiphae's son," his mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."

"But he's the Min—"

"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."

"Terrific….this really is like the wave mission!" Naruto replied, getting odd looks as they ran. "I'll tell ya later!" Naruto replied as they ran. He too knew what this creature was and growled. It was a big brute called the Minotaur. It my strong but it was dumb if the books were right. They only thing that it could rely on was its sense of smell out in this whether and it was only a matter of time before it found them.

As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.

"Oops." Percy said.

"Yeah, so much for not a scratch!" Naruto laughed a little freaked out. _That thing has Granny Tsunade's strength!_

"Boy," Percy's mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"Oh that is useful." Naruto said.

"How do you know all this?" Percy asked

"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me." Mrs. Jackson said sadly.

"What's done is done. Besides, you're a mom, it is natural!" Naruto replied while Percy nodded to that statement. But, there was another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. "Great!" Naruto panicked.

The bull man on steroids had smelled them and was charging in fast. To Naruto, everything was happening in slow motion. He readied himself for what he had to do. Gathering some chakra to his legs and tightening his hold on goat boy, he patiently waited for the right moment. Twenty feet. Ten feet. Five feet. He saw Mrs. Jackson roll out of the way but it seemed Pecy was waiting too long. So he used his free had and pushed him out of harm's way and jumped him into the air, heading for the tree.

The monster seemed miffed by this as it blinked in confusion until he vaguely saw Naruto land near the tree. Snorting, he faced Percy. It was sent for a purpose after all. To abduct Percy's mother and then test the master's son.

Naruto growled. He would not let his friend die! So he laid Grover down near the tree and jumped back to Percy. He landed Percy as he mom got to him. They looked at him oddly again and he said, "It is a ninja thing! Come on!" Then they ran for their lives to the tree. Naruto wondered why Mrs. Jackson said that she was not able to get to where they were going.

Reaching the hill with the tree, the boy's took notice that a valley was below them and it had a farmhouse that had yellow lights glowing in the window. Scowling, Naruto growled. With the way things were going, they would never make it!

"Run, Percy!" Naruto heard Mrs. Jackson call out. "I can't go any farther. Run!"

They froze in shock and fear as the Minotuar came rushing up to them and she tried to get out of the way like last time but it had learn its lesson last time. It brought out an arm and caught her by the neck while she struggled to get away.

"MOM/MRS. JACKSON!" The boys screamed.

She caught Percy's eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"

Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around his mother's neck, and she dissolved before their eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash and she was simply ... gone.

"No!" Percy yelled.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Naruto yelled, irritated about what was going on.

Anger over came Percy and the boys nodded. They would have to try and take this thing down like Mrs. Dodds.

It caught sight of Grover and charged after him, intent to stuff him out.

"Agh! Let's make this thing holy!" Naruto yelled while Percy took off his red jacket. "HEY STEROID FREAK! OVER HERE!"

That got the beast's attention back on them. Percy flung his red jacket around like matador would do as it charged after them. However, he could not jump out of the way like before, he imitated Naruto and jumped upward and went farther than usual somehow. Wonder how he did that as he couldn't chakra like Naruto, he turned his attention back to the bul because it had impacted the tree, one of its horns stuck on it.

Naruto smirked as he created a swirling ball of energy in his hands and shouted, "There was a reason I never showed you this before! RASENGAN!" He slammed the ball into the side of the creature. It flew a few feet away at an odd angle because when it did, its horn broke off. Percy quickly ripped it out, hoping to use it as a makeshift weapon. Naruto was about to tell him not to bother with until he saw the Minotaur getting back up.

Looking in horror, they saw the huge hole in the gut of the beast but it seemed to be healing up quickly. Before they do anything however, it charged at them again. It swung at Percy and sent him a few feet away, knocking the air out of him. It did the same to Naruto but he rolled with the blow so it would not do as much damage. Jumping back at it, he activated the seal on his pants, took out a kunai, channeled chakra to it, and sliced the remaining horn off, making it cry out in rage.

Seeing that Percy was getting back up, he thought quickly. _Normal attacks don't do a lot of damage but it does have a nasty scar from my Rasengan. Maybe it doesn't heal all the way…what if using its horns will work._ He then stabbed the horn into the old wound and a twisted harshly. It cried out in agony when he did that and it seemed that it was not healing at all! He quickly jumped over it and on its back, stabbing it in the neck. "Percy! Stab for the heart! The heart!" he yelled out, struggling to stay on.

Percy seemed to get the idea and quickly ran up to it, avoiding the massive flailing arm that were trying to get Naruto off of it. He stabbed it hard and it cried out before it burst into the same crap Mrs. Dodds did. Collapsing to his knees, he felt the rush of adrenaline ware off and the feeling of losing his mother was starting to crash down on him.

Naruto picked up Percy they supposed each other until they got to Grover. "Come on, we gotta get to that house, we won't be out of the woods until we do." Naruto said as he threw Grover over his shoulder while the two demi gods supported each other as the rained has suddenly stopped.

When they got to the pouch, Naruto fell to his knees and it seemed that Percy was barely conscious. The weight of the two and the battle was just now getting to him. _Ugh….i am weak. I have not fought in a long time. _Looking up, he saw the familiar face of Mr. Brunner, who was giving them a serious look. He also a very pretty blond haired girl, whose hair looked curled like a princesses. "One of them has to be it….they just have to." The girl said.

"Silence, Annabeth," Mr. Brunner said. "They're still conscious. Bring them inside."

"Yes…they would be very helpful if you don't mind." Naruto replied weakly, catching them off guard. Going inside, Naruto helped the girl named Annabeth put Percy and Grover on different cots in the room.

"Um…my name is Annabeth Chase by the way." The girl said with a small smile.

"Naruto cracked his back and said with a weak smile, "Naruto Uzumaki, and if you don't mind, I am about to lose consciousness." Annabeth had wide eyes as she watched him put his back to the cot and say, "Goodnight." Before falling down, out like a light.

"Still never ceases to amaze me." Mr. Brunner suddenly said, making the girl jump.

"Which one?"

"All three. They protected each other in that school I went to. Naruto seems to be a natural fighter though." He replied. "But considering where he from, I am not surprised."

"Where?"

"Oh, I am sure he will tell you and the rest of the camp later. Come and get me when one of them wakes." Mr. Brunner said as he left. Now Annabeth was even more curious.

XXXX

Naruto woke up with a start as he bolted up in the bed he was in. That scared the crap out of Annabeth, who had just walked in. "Ah! Don't do that!"

"Heh, sorry." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. He looked at the horn he was still holding and then to Percy, who was still out of it. He brought a hand up to his chin and said, "So all of that crap did happen."

"Yep," sighed Annabeth. "I still can't believe you two were able to kill that monster."

Naruto smirked and said, "Believe it! Anyway, knowing that nameshave power around here, I will just call it the Bull Freak on Steroids."

Annabeth stared at Naruto for a long time, making him a bit uncomfortable, until she let out a laugh, which was followed by another laugh from Mr. Brunner.

"Good to see you again old man." Naruto commented.

Before Annebeth could correct him, Mr. Brunner chuckled and said, "Naruto, here I am called Chiron."

The look on Naruto was priceless. He was still smiling but he had the 'oh shit' smile. "Oh, so where is your horse half?"

"This is a magical wheelchair to when I want to go out, I use this to hide my true self." The now dubbed Chiron replied.

"Oh, that makes sense. So, how long was I out?"

"You just got here last night! That is why I said you shouldn't even be up!" Annabeth said.

"Oh…well, I have always been a really fast healer. I thought it was because of the fox, but…" He trailed off as he saw Annabeth gave him a look of confusion while Chiron had a serious look on his face.

"I take it you have no clue what I am talking about."

"No." the blond girl said.

"I have an idea. Fox is known as the Kyuubi, correct?" Chiron asked.

"Y-yeah, How do you know about that in this world?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes while Annabeth looked even more confused.

"I hear things when I got to the annual meets of the Gods. Some speak about going to a world that the Lord of the Dead banished the beast known as the Kraken to. Though it may be long gone thanks to a man called the Six Paths Sage, its remained. They were known as the Tailed Beasts and the Kyuubi was the strongest of them all." Chiron explained. "They even spoke of people who were forced at birth to hold these beasts in their bodies via a seal and you were one of them."

"Yeah. So what of it" Naruto asked.

"Only a demi god can handle the power of the Kyuubi within their body but not any old demi god, no a child of the Big Three….or ones descendents. You are in the same boat as Percy. If you are indeed a child of the Big Three, then one of you has to decide the fate of the world at a later time as said in a Prophecy of the Oracle."

Naruto held up a hand for him to stop. "I am not interest nor do I want to decide the fate of the world. If what you say is true then, I will leave it to Percy, he is a good kid, I am sure he will do the right thing. As for me deciding that, well, as an old friend says, it is way too troublesome."

"I see, just know that the Prophecy says the time will come when the demi god is sixteen, so we have time." Chiron replied.

Naruto's eyes widened and he inwardly groaned before saying, "Well, nothing is set in stone." He then tried to get up but felt kind of weak. "Great….one major fight and I am out. I need to get back in shape." He then thought back to what Chiron said. "Hey, if I am a kid of the Big Three, whose am I?"

"We have an idea, but we must keep quiet until they claim you. Besides, being one of the Big Three's kids is kind of bad." Chiron stated.

"Why?"

"Because, they swore an oath after World War II that they would not have kids anymore." Annabeth answered for him.

Naruto snorted. "Well, we can see how that worked out."

"Yes" Chiron smirked. "Annabeth, will you please get some ambrosia and nectar. It should help him recover faster." As she left, he noticed Naruto looking at him oddly. "It is the food of the gods. Normal human can't eat it or they will die. Demi gods eat it because if helps the recover and it is good for them."

"Ah." Naruto smart reply was.

"Oh and I almost forgot. These are yours now, sue them wisely." Chiron said as he took out those familiar lucky charms of his.

Taking them, Naruto asked, "So these actually turn into those blades I was using at the museum?"

"Yes and they each hold half of the Kraken's power so please be careful."

"Huh?"

"Your father had the Smith God forge them from its raw power."

"Oh…" Naruto as he took the bracelets and put them on. Then Annabeth came in with the bowl of some golden liquid. Shrugging as it was better than nothing he took and bite and tasted an all too familiar taste. Could it be, was he right about it after all? "I-it….IT TASTES JUST LIKE ICHIRAKU'S RAMEN!" He yelled out with anime years, making Annabeth take a step back at his suddenly loud voice that didn't even wake up Percy. Chiron just chuckled nervously.

"So how do you feel?" Chiron asked.

"Hmm…like I could fight Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Bloody Mist and come out on top!" Naruto said as he got up. He noticed he still had his kunai pouch on and put the horn in it and seal it all back up, making Annabeth's eyes go wide.

"What the!" She let out.

Naruto looked at her oddly before saying, "Seals….very useful."

"Indeed." Chiron commented with a smirk. "Now I will have a camper show you the cabin for later. Then you come back here. When Percy wakes up I will tell more about this as I don't want to say this twice."

"Fair enough." Naruto as he follow him out the door.

"Annabeth, please continue to watch Percy please." Chiron ordered while the girl nodded, still wondering about those seals.

Once outside, Naruto raised an eyebrow. This place was pretty big. He looked around to see that the hill with the pine tree was not far from them. He felt odd looking at it, like he was being pulled towards it. He shook the feeling off for the moment and looked ahead to see a bunch of cabins in a U shaped arc.

Chiron, not noticing Naruto small distraction, called out to a he saw a girl walking by, "Clarisee! Come here please!"

The girl turned her head and saw Chiron and one of the new guys everyone was talking about. She smirked and walked over. Naruto noticed that she was pretty tall, strong looking, and probably a year or 2 older than him. She was not totally ugly, she looked gruff and had the look of a fighter. "What?" came her response when she arrived.

"I would like for you to show Naruto here around the cabins for the moment. I will probably have Annabeth show Naruto and Percy around camp later when the latter wakes up." Chiron stated.

"Fine, gotta welcome the newbie anyway." She said with an evil smirk.

Naruto raise an eyebrow as that. He knew that smirk, he used it when he did a prank. He guessed the she was 'welcoming committee.'

"Well come on brat!" She called out, already walking away. He followed her all the way to the middle of the arc of cabins. "Ok, listen closely cause I am only going to say this once! There are 12 cabins in all. Each one represents the Greek Good it was made for. Their kids are the one who live in there. Since you and the runt are new and have not been claim yet, you two will go to Cabin 11, the Hermes Cabin."

Naruto nodded, Hermes did shelter a lot of people, so it made sense. "And the one you

re in?" he asked nonchalantly.

"The God of War's cabin!" She proclaimed while point to a red cabin.

"Cool." Naruto replied.

"Right, now we have the other cabins. We got Demeter, Dionysus, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hera, Zeus, Artemis and Poseidon." She said pointing to each. He looked at Zeus and Hera's and quirked an eyebrow. They got some pretty fancy cabins for nobody to use. He noticed that a Hades cabin was not there…odd since he was part of the Big Three. He also noticed a big space between Poseiden and Zeus's cabins. Maybe they planned on making one and forgot since they never got any kids from Hades.

"Now….it is not to 'officially' welcome you!" Clarisse called out, making a lot of people look toward them and they grimaced. Clarisse was breaking in another newbie. Even though Naruto helped in killing the Minotaur, they felt sorry for him. She quickly reacted out and tried to grab him by the collar. Key word here is tried. She along with everyone else gasped as eh grabbed a log of wood, stumbled, fell to one knee.

_What the hell?_ She screamed in her head. Before she could get up, she felt cold metal against her neck. She glanced to the right to see Naruto was facing the other way she was and looked at her from his side and with a smirk on his face, similar to her evil one earlier.

"For someone born from War….you have slow reflexes." Naruto said releasing a small bit of killer intent while still smirking. They heard a lot of people asking others how he did that and to Clarisse of all people. Some noticed that he had his kunai pouch on and that he didn't have that before. Deciding to scare them, he withdrew his kunai from her neck, put it in his pouch, sealed it away, earning a few gasps of shock as it just disappeared. He shocked them even more as he stepped back and offered a hand to help Clarisse up.

Awhile that was happening Clarisse was in deep shock. _The hell, I have never been bested like that!" _She then noticed the hand a quickly took it. She nodded her head and they walked back to the big house where Naruto came out of. Along the way, she was thinking deeply. _ He could be an Ares kid…if he is not I am not sure what else he could be! He beat me and could have killed me with me knowing it! What is this odd ass feeling?_

Arriving at the Big House, Chiron saw that Naruto looked bored and Classire looked a little lost. He had a feeling something went wrong with her 'welcome' plan and wait, could see that she was developing a crush for the blond? _Gods…I feel so sorry for him._ At any rate, he was probably going to be hearing what happened from the other campers. "Back already I see." He started, "Since Percy won't be fully awake until tomorrow, I would like for you to stay near here."

"Alright then. I am going to take a nap next to the big pine tree. Seya later Chiron, Clarisse." And before Chiron could say anything, Naruto had ninja jumped up to the tree. Neither noticed that Clarisse had quickly walked away with a small pink tint to her cheeks.

Naruto arrived at the tree and sat down with his back to it. This tree had been pulling at him the whole time. He idly wondered if it was cursed or something like that. Slowly falling asleep, he laid his head against the tree and was out.

Whenever he slept, he had dreams but this was the most vivid dream he had ever had. He was in a large white room and he was not alone. A girl stood across from him, staring at him with shocked eyes. She has shoulder length spiky black hair, and blue eyes, with freckles under her eyes, mostly on the left, and she is wearing some punk style clothes. To him she looked beautiful. "Um….hey. My name is Naruto Uzuamki. Who are you and where are we as I know this can't be a dream."

The girl gulped and said, "Thalia and we are in Limbo."

**Cliffy! I could not help but do this. This is one of Naruto's powers, talking to people in Limbo. You guy know the Rajin? Well Naruto is going to fix it for Thalia to use later and since Riptide is useless sometime for Percy….heh well, I will have Naruto create a smaller version of Zabuza's Blade. **

**Review and tell me what you all think!**


	6. Bloodlines are like Gods! Not!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 6**

**Someone asked if this is going to be a Naruto/Thalia/Clarisse. I am not sure….I could do that or make it a love triangle that will eventually be a threesome but I wanna here what you all think of that idea. Also, when Clarisse goes into the Labyrinth, I might have Naruto create a special clone to go with her. Another thing is, you know about the Demi God files? Well, I am going to have Naruto go on his own quest. I have an idea on what to do and will keep it to myself for now but do you all have any ideas? **

"Now hold on! I know I am not dead. All I did was fall asleep against your tree as people call it." Naruto said, a bit panicked in this situation.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Thalia shrugged. "Anyway, you know my name, but I don't know yours?"

"Oh! My name is Naruto Uzumaki and apparently I am a demi god." Naruto replied, calming down and walking up to shake hand with her.

"Nice to meet you Naruto." Thalia said with a smile as she sent electricity up his arm

Feeling his arm go numb, Naruto said, "I take it you are a demi god too. So, whose kid are you?"

Thalia scowled a bit and said, "Zeus. You?"

The blond rose an eyebrow but didn't say much to her scowling. "Not a clue, same for Percy. He arrived here with me and a satyr named Grover."

"GROVER!"

"Yeah, you've heard of him?" Naruto said as he back up from her outburst.

"He was the Satyr who found me, Annabeth, and Luke. How are they by the way?"

"Hmm…well Grover is always trying to protect me and Percy but with his façade as a cripple, it did not work that well. Him and Percy are best friends. Annabeth is a nice person from what I have seen and I have not even seen this Luke guy yet." Naruto replied with a shrug. "How long have you been here anyway?"

"I think more than 5 years."

"Oh wow. Well since i have this odd Limbo entering power, I guess I can keep you company every now and then." Naruto said with a smile.

Thalia smiled back. "I would like that, but if you tell the others about this, they might not believe you."

"I kind of figured that." Naruto chuckled.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"I think I might know whose kid you are."

"What do you think?"

"Hades."

Naruto chuckled, "Well if that is the case, you still got a friend in me. I don't really care if our parents hate each other, which should not have anything to do with us."

Thalia smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you. And…I won't hate you either. Besides that is a stupid reason anyway."

"Exactly." Naruto said as then felt himself waking up. "Well, til next time."

"Yeah." She said a little sadly.

"Don't worry Thalia, I'll be back….I promise and I never go back on my promises."

Thalia chuckled, "I'll hold you to that Naruto."

Naruto just back up from the hug and gave her a thumb's up as he disappeared. "See you later Naruto." She whispered to herself with a slight blush.

XXXX

Back in the normal world, Naruto could see that it was morning. _Didn't think I was in Limbo that long. Well, I will just have to learn how to control it if I am the son of Hades._

Getting up, headed back to the big house to see Grover, Annabeth, and Chiron there around a table with two other people he had not met yet. "Yo!" They turned their heads and saw him.

"Well, I thought you disappeared." Chiron said, fully turning around.

"Oh, I just fell asleep against Thalia's Tree." Naruto replied.

"Really? I don't remember telling you the name of the tree." Annabeth stated.

Naruto smirked and said, "I heard it from some camper's yesterday" _I am not sure if they would believe me._

"Anyway, I would like you to meet these two." Chiron said. Naruto took a look at them both. One had a surfer's build and had a lot of eyes all over his body. The other one was an old fat man. "These two are Argus and Mr. D repectively."

Naruto just nodded because Mr. D looked very tired, or was it bored? "Well I guess I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

"Nice to be here." Naruto smiled and it was infectious because the man smiled….but it was small. Thinking back to all the Mythology he had read, though that would shock his friends back home. Anyway, he did know a lot or remember a lot of people that started with a D. So that brought out the thing he was about to say. "Hmm Mr. D, I don't know a lot of Greek History but there is one guy whose name would fit with you, but names are powerful so I will just say that you are the Wine God."

"Well, you are a smart boy. You are correct." Mr. D replied, gaining some respect for the blond.

"Wow, Granny Tsunade would love you then. She drinks all the time! Oh and since your other power is similar to her family's Mokuton power, are you guy related?"

Mr. D blinked a few times before laughing. "Well, I can honestly say that I have never been to your world that Chiron told me you were from. Now, I have heard about it from the other Gods. Now, if I ever get away from this place, I might just take a look! Oh and to answer your question, no I am not related to her."

"Oh." Naruto said and then turned to Grover, "So Grover, how are you feeling."

"Better, but it still sucks that I was of no use."

"I am sure you will get another chance at that in the future." Naruto replied with a smile, it was freaking infectious!

XXXX

Awhile later, Percy had woken up and Grover took him aside to talk a bit. When they got back, that is when things got interesting.

Percy looked at the end of the pouch where everyone was and gasped, the man he thought was Mr. Brunner was there! Then he saw a fat man playing some game with him. There was the blond haired girl who had feed him the popcorn flavor pudding, leaning on the railing of the pouch and finally there was Naruto watching the game the two men where playing.

"Mr. Brunner!" Percy cried.

The Latin teacher turned and smiled at him. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.

"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

He offered Percy a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at him with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you." Naruto just chuckled at Mr. D's bluntness.

"Uh, thanks." Percy scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing he had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, he was a satyr.

"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.

She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him, along with Naruto, in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." While looking at the girl, Percy was checking her out, but not in a perverted way. He thought that her looks where like a typical California girl but her eyes threw him off as they were grey! He then was wondering what she would say to him because of the fact that he and Naruto killed the Minotaur. He pictured it being, _You beat the Minotaur_ or_ Wow! Your so awesome!_ Like that would ever happen. "You drool when you sleep." And with that, she left.

He confused at first until he heard Naruto break out laughing. "Oh, man. I beat you thought she was going to say that you were awesome of something that! Aw…too bad for you."

"Wait, what about you? When did you wake up?" Percy shot back while Mr. D had a slight smirk on his face.

"Remember, I am a fast healer. I woke up yesterday morning." Naruto spoke while Percy just shook his head, thinking that Naruto's healing was just out there to being with. "Anywy, you, uh, work here Mr. Brunner?"

"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex—Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."

"Okay." Totally confused, Percy looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for

something?" Naruto smacked his head. He wondered if his friend had learned anything throughout this ordeal.

Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at percy like he'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"I must say, Percy," Chiron broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."

"House call?"

"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course,

keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something

special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of

absence. Then we had Naruto transfer in and I knew he was powerful like you as well. Two demi gods in one place in rare so I am glad we got both you here safely."

Percy tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but he did

have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher his first week at Yancy. Then, without

explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class and then Naruto transferred in and then things were not that bad.

"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" Percy asked.

Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let hern know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."

"Well, I had help from Naruto." Percy replied.

"We know, and I am glad the both of you made it in piece." Chiron said.

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"

"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though Percy couldn't figure out why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.

"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed him suspiciously. Of course he knew that Naruto didn't either and probably already beat him a few times.

"I'm afraid not," He replied.

"I'm afraid not, _sir_," Mr. D said.

"Sir," Percy repeated. He liked the camp director less and less.

"Well," Mr. D explained "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all _civilized_ young men to know the rules."

"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.

"Please," Percy said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun—Chiron—why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"

Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."

The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.

Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.

"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"

"She said ..." He remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."

"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"

"What?" Percy asked.

He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so Percy did.

"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."

"Orientation film?" Percy asked and then rounded on Naruto. "And you don't seem to be surprised by this stuff at all!"

Naruto shrugged and said, "Well, since I woke up earlier, I was told this already and I told them about the other world and they seemed to understand." Percy just blinked at him owlishly.

"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"—

he pointed to the horn in the shoe box Percy was holding—"that you boys have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lads. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods—the forces you call the Greek gods—are very much alive."

Percy stared at the others around the table. He waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all he got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points and Naruto giving off a serious look and he knew this was serious.

"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke

can?"

"Eh? Oh, all right."

"Yep, half-goat….goats will eat anything." Naruto deadpanned at their satyr friend while he bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.

"Wait," Percy told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."

"Well, now," Chiron said. "God—capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."

"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about—"

"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."

"Smaller?"

"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."

At this point Naruto intervened, seeing that his friend was having trouble coming to terms with this. "Percy, remember what I said about the bloodlines back home." A nod, "Well think that along with the greek mythology we learned in class and we got something VERY power living."

Percy's eyes widened and said, "Zeus,Hera, Apollo. You mean them and that they are real?" That was when a thunder boomed.

"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."

"But they're stories," Percy said. "They're—myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."

"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"—He flinched when the man said Percy's real name, which he never told anybody—"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals—they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."

"Yeah man, we didn't have that luxary back home and we just played off the originators of the bloodlines to something godly." Naruto shrugged.

"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?" That was when he heard Naruto say that it would be lonely.

"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," Percy said.

"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"

"I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods." Percy replied which made Naruto grimace.

"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."

Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."

"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this

job, working with boys who don't even believe."

He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.

"Mr. D," Chiron warned, "your restrictions."

Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise. "Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!" More thunder.

Naruto chuckled and said, "Yep, Tsunade would really love you!" That made Mr. D chuckle and waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.

Chiron winked. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits." Naruto just gave Chiron at odd look before shaking his head.

"A wood nymph," Percy repeated, staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.

"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time—well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away—the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair." Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.

"I am sure you'll get used to it….eventually." Naruto replied.

"_Di immortales_, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is

Zeus, of course."

Like Naruto before, Percy went through the D name he had learned about and found one that matched Mr. D, though he was not as subtle like his friend. "You're Dionysus," He said. "The god of wine."

Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"

"Y-yes, Mr. D."

"Had that coming. " Naruto commented with a smirk.

"Sh-shut it!" Percy replied.

"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?" Mr. D asked, irriated while Naruto thought that was an odd comparison.

"You're a god."

"Yes, child."

"A god. You." Percy asked again, unable to comprehend it.

Mr. D turned to look at Percy straight on, and he saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. He saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. Percy knew that if he pushed him, Mr. D would show him worse things. He would plant a disease in his brain that would leave him wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of his life.

That an over the top way to get the point across but it worked.

"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.

"No. No, sir."

The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."

"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."

Percy thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.

"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first,

Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."

Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."

Mr. D turned to Percy. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners. Take Naruto with you since he will be going as well." He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.

"Will Grover be okay?" Percy asked Chiron.

Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."

"Mount Olympus," Pecy said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"

"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."

"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like ... in America?"

"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."

"The what?"

"Percy." Naruto spoke up again. The west means where the major power is in the world. You see, it has moved from Greece, which was at one point, the point of power in the world. Now it is here in America." Chiron gave Naruto a grateful look because he really didn't want to explain it right now.

"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?" Percy ask, not really taking in everything and understanding it.

"Who are you?" he mused while he started get out of his chair, which would seem impossible in Percy's mind. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."

And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, Percy thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.

Percy stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of their Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.

"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki. Let's meet the other campers."

Percy just nodded and he and Naruto followed. Naruto leaned over and said, Told you. Chiron has a real horse's ass."

**Ok people. I hope you liked it. Now I have a surprise for you all. I have decided to make Naruto more than just half human half god. I will make it that Kushina was a demi god herself. Try and guess who her parent was. It will also explain why Naruto is not crazy like his siblings. CoughHitlerCough. Review!**


	7. Water and Wind

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 7**

**Just Naruto/Thalia 3**

**Naruto/Thalia/Clarisse 1**

**Well, if people want just Naruto/Thalia that is fine but I am keeping this poll open for now. BUT, if you all do choose that….i could just do something small for Naruto/Clarisse during books 1 and 2. Anyway, I have an awesome idea for later. We all know that Orochimaru had no parents….or did he? He will be the last son of Typhon and Echidna. He will be saved by his mom when Sasuke kills him. To those who guessed Poseidon….NO! He already has one of the Big Three as a dad! But, since I said that they have to be a kid of the Big Three to hold Kyuubi….well, what if they were related to someone stronger…someone that even Zeus fears. You will see soon! One more thing, I know that Annabeth is afraid of spider and Thalia is afraid of heights, but what should Naruto be afraid of?**

After Percy got over his shock, he ran to Chiron's side along with Naruto, because hey, you can never trust a horse's backside, especially in Amish Country. Anyway, they started the tour of the camp!

They passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the

minotaur horn Pecy was carrying and Naruto. Another said, "It's them." Naruto chuckled as he heard them trying to figure out how his did the log thing as they put it. Percy gave Naruto a look and smirked. "You just had to show off, huh."

"Naturally." Naruto smirked. As they walked that saw everyone doing activities and Satyrs joining them in their activities with orange camp half-blood shirts and nothing else.

"Hey." Percy said aloud, "What is up there?" He said pointing the fourth story of the Big House that they just left.

Chiron looked to where Percy was pointing and his smile faded, making Naruto raise an eyebrow, "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?"

"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

Naruto looked at the window to the attic oddly and thought, _Nothing living…..but what if something not entirely living…..nah!_ Naruto turned his head just as a curtain moved and Percy was the only one who saw it.

"Come along boys," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. _I wonder how hard it is to learn how to play one._ Naruto idly thought, not listening to Chiron tell them that these Strawberries pay for the camps expenses.

Percy did look a little sad though and Naruto somehow knew that he was wondering if Grover was ok…he was getting chewed out by a God though, so who knows.

"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" Percy asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle.

"Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"But he did that!" Percy exclaimed.

"Yeah, two campers none the less." Naruto grumbled. Now he was worried about their friend as well.

"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you two in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when Naruto brought him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."

"He helped get us here so I think that is good enough, even he is a bit weak, he is still a good guy." Naruto replied.

"He'll get a second chance, won't he?" Percy asked.

Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."

_Five years? Oh, that must mean that he was with Thalia since she mentioned him. _Pondered Naruto.

"How old is he?"

"Oh, twenty-eight."

"What! And he's in sixth grade?"

"Well hey, I am thirteen and I was in sixth grade too!" Naruto said.

"Yeah but….twenty-eight! And besides, no one would think much of that Naruto!" Percy panick as he looked back to Chiron.

"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."

"That's horrible." Percy said while Naruto shivered.

"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"

"That's not fair," Percy said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"

Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?" The boys were not convince but didn't want to anger the horse man.

"Chiron," Percy said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."

"Yes, child?"

"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"

Chiron's expression darkened and he shot his eyes over to Naruto for a split second but Naruto caught it. "Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more . . . I would urge you to put that out of your mind."

"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"

"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods." They wanted to know what he was talking about tbut when they reached the edge of the forest that thought left them. Once they saw it, they thought the forest was HUGE! It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

Naruto smiled a sad smile and said, "Feels like home." Percy looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto had told him a lot of the world he used to live in. He didn't believe it at first because it sounded weird but so were his experiences so he just took it in stride.

Chiron said interrupting them, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Oh that sounds nice." Naruto deadpanned. "Sounds just like the Forest of Death with the way you put it."

"Stocked with what?" Percy asked, a little freaked out now. "Armed with what?"

"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

"My own—?"

"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later." He then looked at Naruto's wrist band with the fox and dragon charms. He new Naruto would be alright, but at the moment, he was more worried about Percy.

"Sword and spear fights?" Percy asked.

"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall." Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"Not bad!" Naruto smirked as he observed it, really wanting to eat now.

"What do you do when it rains?" Percy asked with a confused face. Chiron looked at him as if he had gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" He then sighed and decided to drop the subject.

Finally, they reached the cabins that Naruto had seen earlier. The collection of twelve cabins was very odd to Percy but Naruto didn't seem as fazed. He guessed the blond and seen weirder things, which was very possible with all those stories Naruto had told him.

Percy looked back at the building to get a better outlook at what was what. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door with odds on the left side, evens on the right, they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops, which Percy smirked at, now that was something he could do!

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. Naruto found this odd but he did find that the girl extruded a lot of power. She was someone that you did NOT mess with, that was for sure.

Percy looked to the huge mausoleum like cabins at the bend of the U and he instantly knew who they were for. "Zeus and Hera?"

"Correct," Chiron said.

"Their cabins look empty."

"Several of the cabins are. That's true, but no one ever stays in those two." Chiron explained.

"Troublesome." Naruto muttered Shikamaru's famous saying. "Sounds like a real waste to me." He then noticed that Percy was staring at a long, low, and solid cabin that seemed to be extruding power as well. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. Curious, Percy tried to take a peek inside.

Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!" But Percy had already looked in and was a little sad at how sad it looked inside. "Come on Percy." Chiron said as he lead them away from the cabin. _I swear this guy knows something…what a drag, AGH! I am sounding more and more like Shikamaru! _ Ranted Naruto in his head.

Now, most of the other cabins, however, had a lot of kids for their cabins. Naruto held in a chuckle. _Man…these gods but be real horny. _Number five was bright red, which did not have that great of a paint job, it was as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow all that looked at it. Inside they could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD Tshirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red. Naruto smirked as he recognized her. Her cabin seemed really fun!

Percy then noticed something, "Hey, where are all the other Centaurs?"

"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."

Naruto gave the man a smirk. "Oh, so they are the guys who love to party, eh? Now they are some people I want to meet!"

Chiron put a smirk and said, "I am not sure about that Naruto. They take it to the extreme and they do that every day."

"So what you are saying is that they are the ones who invented Tail Gate Parties and Frat Parties?" Naruto deadpanned and Chiron just nodded. "Oh boy."

"You said your name was Chiron." Percy interrupted, "Are you really ..."

He smiled down at the boy. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes,

Percy, I am."

"But, shouldn't you be dead?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."

"Being a teacher for all time….man that sounds boring!" Naruto said.

"No, no," Chiron said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."

"Why depressing?" Percy asked.

"I can only imagine why." Naruto said, _being immortal mean you see all those that you have learned to love die….i am not sure if I could do that. _

"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us." Chiron suddenly said, as if not hearing the question.

When they reached the blond girl, it was at cabin 11. The girl was reading a book that was not even in English. The thing was in Greek and it seemed to be about Greek Architecture. Fuuuun.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take these two from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told them, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on _old_. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it.

Looking inside, Naruto sweatdropped at what he saw. It was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. _Oh….crap, this is _worse_ than the orphanage back home…or not. _He thought as he looked at them all. They were all in good spirits. He did notice that when they saw Chiron, they stood and bowed to the man. Yet another sign that they guy was important. First was the Immortality and not the show of respect.

"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He then galloped away toward the archery range.

Turning back to the group behind them, they notice that all the kids where sizing up the two of them. Great, now they needed to make a good impression. So naturally Percy tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. Naruto just walked in nonchalantly, which seemed to calm Percy down a bit.

Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki, meet cabin eleven.

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

"Uh….guessing as how we just got here….i would say undetermined." Naruto deadpanned and there was a groan of annoyance from everyone in the cabin.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy, Naruto. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there. It is pretty big so the two of you will fit for now." The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short cropped hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash. _Oh ho, now this guy seems like fighter!_ Naruto smirked at the thought. This place was awesome.

"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. They looked at her and it looked like she just got out of a blush. Naruto raised an eyebrow. It seemed that she was in to old guys. He smirked, he could tease her later. He expression hardened when she them looking, but for Naruto…he already had some pranking material. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" Percy asked.

"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

"Heh, the God of Theives…now that is a guy that sounds fun." Naruto said, getting a a few chuckles from the other campers. He decided to give back Luke's wallet. "Here you go man."

"Wha..?" Luke said a little surprised. "How and when?"

"Oh, just now and I am a ninja, I am do that easily." Naruto said, getting a few shocked looks.

"Anyway…." Percy interrupted, already use to Naruto's antics. "How long are we going to be here?"

"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

The campers all laughed.

"I am getting the feeling that take a loooong time." Naruto sweatdropped. _What do we got to do, prove ourselves?_

"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it." Percy replied.

"Come on." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside. Percy could hear the kids of cabin

eleven laughing behind him. Naruto shook his head. This girl was odd but she seemed fun to him. He them chuckled to himself. Could Percy already have a girlfriend and already be whipped? Nah…he just got here after all.

When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" Naruto grimaced as he heard the anger in his friend's voice. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy and that was with the help of Naruto. We just kill some odd bull freak!"

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'dhad your chance?"

"To get killed?" Percy asked with a confused look.

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?" The girl yelled.

"Then you guy must train your asses off here. The Minotaur from those old stories was a pain in the ass to kill! I had to weaken with a Rasengan!" Naruto complained.

"A what?" Annabeth asked. Naruto just sighed as he created a of swirling energy that disappeared after a few second, but those watching them had seen it and wondered what it could do.

"Wait, Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..." Percy trailed off.

"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."

"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."

"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."

"Oh that's nice." Naruto said as he smacked his head.

"You mean if we killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"

"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad." Annabeth informed him.

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You talk in your sleep."

"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?" Naruto asked while Percy nodded.

Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Man, you guys take fear to the extreme, sure she was creepy but, come on. They can't be that bad." Naruto replied. Annabeth just gave him a look.

"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" Percy whined. That even sounded sad to him. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there." He said, pointing to a few other cabins.

"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent." Annabeth informed him. He seemed to get it….maybe.

"My mom is Sally Jackson," He said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station.

At least, she used to."

"Uh Percy, I think she means your dad." Naruto commented.

"But he's dead. I never knew him." Percy said.

Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."

"I am getting the feeling that he is a god, right?" Naruto deadpanned.

"What?" Percy said surprised.

"How else would you be allowed here?" Naruto shrugged.

"What about you?" Percy pointed to Naruto.

"Oh, I am not sure, but whoever my dad was, he said to just wait until the right time. Besides, you know that I am an orphan, so I am used to waiting around like this."

"Oh…right." Percy said a little embarrassed. "But, how do I know I am a demi god as they are called?"

Usually demi gods are diagnosed with dyslexia and probably ADHD, too." Annabeth said.

"Uh…dyslexia is where you mix up word and stuff right? " Percy asked.

"Heh, you think you got it bad….what about me? I know three languages now!" Naruto said. "English, Japanese, and now this Greek stuff!"

"So, you could read at the museum as well?"

"Yep!" Naruto said.

"Ok….so how does ADHD help?"

"Simple…they are your battle reflexes." Annabeth stated. It is a good thing you had that beause if you didn't, you would not have survived the Minotaur, much less eaten the Ambrosia and nectar."

"Huh?"

"Percy, that stuff you drank that made you feel better." Naruto said. "For me, that stuff tasted like Ichiraku's ramen!" He had anime tears in his eyes, making Percy chuckle to himself. His friend had the weirdest tastes.

"My mom's cookies." Percy said sadly.

"Well…those are the signs, you two are defiantly demi gods." Annabeth said but before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by someone very familiar to her and Naruto.

"Well! A newbie!" a husky voice said. Percy looked over to the big girl he saw in the Ares cabin, come sauntering toward them. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets. He noticed that she was talking to him, but also that she was stealing glances at his blond haired friend. _Oh no...why does he attract all the tough girls! First it was Nancy Bobofit and now this girl!_

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed also noticing the looks. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though the boys had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, he then looked at Naruto and had a slight pink tint to her cheeks. "Hey Naruto, who is the runt with you?"

"Oh! This is my friend Percy Jackson!"

"Yes, and I am sure Naruto already knows this but this is Clarisse, daughter of Ares, God of War." Annabeth mumbled, finding it odd that Clarisse could be in love.

"_THE_ War God?" Percy said with both eyebrows raised.

Clarisse sneered and held up Percy by the collar. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," Percy said, recovering his wits. "It explains the bad smell."

Naruto smacked his head and mumbled something about his friend getting a spine at the worst times. Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you." Clarisse said as he dragged the boy to the bathrooms.

"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it, wise girl." Clarisse growled as she and the others walked away.

"Naruto!" Annabeth rounded on her fellow blond. "You have to help him!"

Sighing Naruto replied, "I know I should but I can't be the one to fight all his battles."He then grabbed the horn Percy dropped. They walked to the door while saying this and he was sure Percy heard him. "Let's see if you can regain some of that strength.

Annabeth and Naruto watched at the door as Clarisse and her friends mocked Percy. As they began to push Percy's head toward the toilet, Naruto felt that power if felt back at the museum. "Oh, this is going to be messy for them."

"Huh?" Annabeth asked.

Then, one of the toilets shot out water at Clarisse, and as her friends tried to help her, the other toilets exploded, blasting water all over the place and on Annabeth and Naruto. "Didn't expect that." He said, spitting out water.

Percy walked over to them with a shocked epression, but he was laughing in the inside at how funny the two looked.

Annabeth said, "How did you ..."

"I don't know." Percy shrugged.

"Well Percy, you just gave the name Water Boy a whole new meaning." Naruto said which actually got a laugh from Annabeth.

They walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead." However, it was quickly gone because Naruto had decided to help out, but not in the way anyone expected. He created a shadow clone to help them out.

"**Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" ** All the water and mud that was on them was blown away and into the nearby forest. The clone then disappeared. Though, the damage had been already done. Everyone was gawking at Naruto now. He walked over to Clarisse and help her up. "Don't be to hard on him next time." He smirked and then winked. He then shunshined back to Percy and Annabeth, leaving more shocked people to look at him. He never saw the full blown blush on her face.

"Show off." Percy smirked.

"Oh, I do over to it but I could not help it." Naruto shrugged. He then noticed Annabeth looking from Percy to Naruto. "What? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want the two of you on my team for capture the flag."

**There you go, here that chapter. **


	8. Burning Food and the Camp Song

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 8**

**Pairing Poll: **

**Just Naruto/Thalia 5**

**Naruto/Thalia/Clarisse 16 This one is pretty much winning. Oh, I plan on saving Zoe so Thalia won't have to be a hunter.**

**Fear Poll:**

**Losing his friends and those he loves: 1**

**Ghosts: 1**

**Unnaturally pale old guys who like little boys: 1**

**Losing to Fate: 1**

After that little incident at the bathrooms, people were whispering about what had happened. Of course Naruto just ignored it while he was sure Percy heard it. Another odd thing was that Annabeth was still wet after what had happened and so he helped her out but using the same wind jutsu he used earlier. She thanked him and continued on their tour.

They passed a rock wall that had lava spewing out of it and he smirked. Now that was a challenge he was love to try. Then there was the art and crafts portion of the camp. He smirked again thinking that he could work on some future weapons. He thought back to the weapon he had gotten from Aoi. Since he pretty much destroyed the damn thing, Tsunade just told him to keep it as a souvenir. If he was able to fix it, he himself would not be able to use it because he was not that much into lightning. Heh, he could always give it to Thalia when he found a way to get her out of that tree.

Oh yeah, he would have some fun here, he chuckled at all the ideas of weapons he could make that were based of weapons back in the ninja world.

So, when the trio stopped that the canoeing lake that had passed earlier, Annabeth stopped and said flatly, "I've got training to do. Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy blurted out, feeling guilty.

"Whatever."

"It wasn't my fault." Percy said but stopped as he too knew it was his own fault. Annabeth looked at him skeptically and Naruto just chuckled quietly to himself. Percy glared at his blond friend for that. While Percy was an idiot around girls, Naruto was a clueless romantic. He could not figure it out, Naruto was just so freaking clueless!

Anyway, thinking back to the toilet water, he wondered how the hell he had done it in the first place! Needed to control it and he hoped Naruto would help him with it later.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.

"Who?" Percy asked.

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

Percy sighed and looked down into the water, hoping someone would giving a straight forward answer for once! He didn't expect to see anyone but his eyes widened when he did see two people down there, Curious, Naruto looked and saw them too! They saw two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They looked at the two boys and waving like they knew them.

"Now that is something you don't see every day." Naruto commented as he and Percy waved a bit.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads," Percy repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. He already had a clueless one as a friend "That's it. I want to go home now."

Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?" deadpanned Percy.

"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?"

"I think you know." Annabeth replied.

"Percy, I think she means half god. And if that is true, we are like the heroes in those stories Chiron made us read. Basically, we are going to be kick ass fighters!"

"Naruto, you already know how to fight. You are a ninja." Percy sighed.

"I know, heh, I wonder if this place has any good pranksters…"Naruto thought with an evil smirk.

Annabeth sighed in defeat. _Not another one!_ "The stroll brothers in the Hermes Cabin are who you should be looking for in that area." She replied, not sure why she said that.

As if it finally sunk it, Percy shouted, "Then my dad is alive!"

"Yes, he is one of the Olympians." Annabeth said.

"That's ... crazy."

"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"I would not think so…" Naruto chuckled, "Powerful people like them have to release somehow….if you know what I mean." Percy just smacked his head.

"Right, so what are we called again?" Percy asked.

"We are Demigods."

"Then who is your dad?" Percy asked.

Her hands tightened around the pier railing. He got the feeling he'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.

"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small.

He teaches American history."

"Heh, so you got a super mom then." Naruto said, making Annabeth chuckle a bit at his reference to her mother.

"He's human." Percy stated.

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"

"Um, who is your mom then?"

"Cabin six."

"Meaning."

Annabeth would have answered him again but Naruto helped her out. "Dude, it is Athena. The Goddess of Wisdom and Battle."

"Oh…that is cool." Percy smiled.

"Yeah, but if you think about it, I think she likes really smart guys, so I am going to assume she likes to hang around universities or colleges that I heard about. Man, hanging around school just to meet a guy for all time...I can barely stand school now!" Naruto reasoned before both boys shuddered about the school thing, making Annabeth laugh some.

"Ok, so who is my dad?" asked Percy.

"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."

"My dad would have. He loved her."

Annabeth gave him a cautious look. She didn't want to burst his bubble. "Maybe you're right.

Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

"Uh Percy, why do you think our cabin is so freaking stuffed. " Naruto helped out.

Annabeth nodded "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

"So I'm stuck here," Percy said, thinking about all the sad expressions he saw at the cabin. He had seen that on some rich kids back at Yancy academy and on Naruto some of the time. "That's it? For the rest of my life? What about Naruto, he has had it worse than me!"

"Huh?" came the blond's response.

"I knew my mom; Naruto didn't know either of his parents!" Percy said.

"Ah don't worry about it Percy, I had the leader of my village back home. My mom my have ben dead but I got along pretty well. Besides, if my dad is some all-powerful god, then he would not have a lot of time for me anyway." Naruto shrugged, getting a sad look from his friend and raised eyebrow from Annabeth. "Besides, I turned out pretty good!" Naruto smirked with giving the nice guy pose, which made Percy smack his head.

"Well, it really depends." Annabeth stated. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?" Percy asked, hoping he was safe.

Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

"Heh, some people's idea of a prank…sweet!" Naruto said. "Of course I can summon toads, so I am familiar with summoning."

"Toads?" both Percy and Annabeth asked at the same time.

"Heh, you'll see later I am sure." Naruto smirked.

"Anyway." Annabeth said while shaking her head. "The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So ... you're a year-rounder?" Percy asked while Naruto wondered if this place was protected by some huge genjutsu. Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?"

She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."

Naruto grimaced. Thanks to Thalia, he knew what happened. "Oh." Percy stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."

"Unless?" Both boys asked, one eager to get away from this craziness while the other wanted to see more of the world and fight badass monsters.

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."

Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.

"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah, that stuff. I only saw you feeding me so assumed Naruto was already up. Heh, knowing him, he would have bolted out the door if he had to feed me." Percy said with a chuckle while Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you asked me something about the summer solstice."

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you _do_ know something?"

"Well... no. Back at my old school, Naruto and I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean because we could not figure it out?"

She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so_ normal_."

"As normal as you can get with Gods anyway." Naruto muttered.

"You've been to Olympus?" Percy asked surprised.

"Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You _are_ a New Yorker, right?"

"Ok, I have been living in New York for a long time and even I didn't know that!" Naruto said exasperated.

"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

"Hmm, well if we someone get a quest for this, I am sure we can all work together if that is what you are gunning for." Naruto smirked.

"Thanks. I need to get one. I mean I am old enough for one so yeah…" Annabeth trailed off.

"Now I am curious as to what was stolen if it is so important that the gods are fighting over it. " Narut said in a thinking pose that did not suit him. Then they herd Percy's stomach growled.

"Right, well I will se you later." Annabeth said, tracing her finger along the railing of the pier, as if drawing a battle plan, though considering who her mom was, it was not surprising.

"Well come on. We should get back to the cabin." Naruto sighed, obviously bored now.

"Right."

XXXX

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. While Naruto was walking along the walls and ceiling, freaking everyone out, Percy had just noticed that a lot of the campers in the cabin had the same features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. In a sense, they were sort of like Naruto, natural born pranksters. He was relieved that he was left alone for the moment as he sat down with his Minotaur horn.

The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. "Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

Percy rose an eyebrow, not sure if he was tell the truth about the stealing part. "Thanks."

"No prob." Luke sat next to him, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day? Though, unlike you, Naruto seems to be making himself at home."

"Naruto is good with adjusting to weird situations, considering where he has come from." Percy chuckled sadly. "Me, I don't belong here, I mean, I don't even believe in the gods."

"Yeah," Luke said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them, it doesn't get any easier. But I am curious as to where Naruto lived if he can adjust so easily."

"Yeah…..well he says he is from a land called the Elemental Countries. At first I didn't believe him but he did stuff no one here can even do, so I started to believe it." Percy said.

"Ah, I have heard of that place from overheard the Gods speak at the meets me, Annabeth and a few others attended. Apparently is a very war torn place. Of course Ares, God of War, loves that place. They have all been there a few times, and they say time works differently between the two worlds." Luke explained.

"Wow…who knew. I guess the Gods need a break from this world sometimes." Percy chuckled and Luke laughed along with him. "So…your dad is Hermes?"

He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second Percy thought he was going to gut him, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."

"The wing-footed messenger guy." Percy asked, skeptical.

"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."

"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.

"Once." Luke said but didn't seem to say more on that subject.

"So, I guess he claims all his kids." Percy said.

"Pretty much, but I was kind of wondering if Naruto was one of us. Apparently not as he has not been claimed yet." Luke said amused as Naruto was doing handstands on the ceiling. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

"Heh, sounds like Naruto. He usually helped me and Grover this year in school." Percy chuckled. He was glad he had friend like Naruto, Grover, and now the people here at camp. He then asked something that has been bugging him.

"Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"

Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

Luke's face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."

"Somebody special? You mean like me or more specifically, Naruto. I mean, he is pretty special, he is walking on the ceiling after all." Percy asked.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime." The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty or so of kids, filed into the commons yard. They lined up in order of seniority, so of course Percy and Naruto were dead last, though Naruto didn't seem to mind when Percy grumbled about it. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.

They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined the group from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods, literally. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. Percy had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half his butt hanging off. Naruto was smart and did a small earth jutsu and made a seat for himself, shocking a few people, who wondered how he did it.

The boys saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. That made Naruto laugh some.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.

Clarisse sat behind them at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down and then blow dried, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!" Naruto being Naruto, cheered loudly along with the rest of them while Percy did it weakly, still trying to get use to this madness.

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! Naruto and Percy's glasses was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want—nonalcoholic, of course."

While Percy experiemented with his Blue Cherry Coke, Naruto asked, "Orange Vault!" That made Percy laugh, hard. No matter what he and Grover did, they could never get the blond away from the color orange. Then some food was passed to the two boys.

"Come on!" Luke called. They followed him to the bathtub fire and saw people throwing in a good portion of their food in it. "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell." He murmured.

The boys gave Luke a deadpanned look. "You're kidding."

Luke's look warned them not to take this lightly, but they couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food. But whatever floats their boat, right? Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."

While Percy made a silent plea to whoever was listening, he threw it in there and not much happened except for an odd smell of chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. . Percy looked oddly at it before letting Naruto have his turn.

Naruto threw a piece in there before the familiar smell of Ichiraku's Ramen stand filled there air before it turned to the smell of Tsunade's sake. Then something weird happened, the fire turned pure black for a few seconds before turning back to Naruto. Naruto looked back to see that Percy and a lot of other people had seen it too. They all had their eyebrows raised high. Naruto and Percy quickly went back to the table before anyone asked any questions.

After that, they ate quickly, with Naruto finding his favorite food on the table, RAMEN! Of course it was only in one bowl, but he did not mind. The odd thing was that when he finished it, it came back! Oh yeah, this was a good thing, FREE NEVER ENDING RAMEN!

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for their attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have two new campers today. Peter Johnson and Naruko Uzamki"

"NARUTO UZUMAKI! I AM NOT A GIRL!" Naruto barked out, but Mr. D just smirked. He may like this kid but it was fun getting on his nerves. There was also laughter from the Ares table. Though it was for the fact that a camper had yelled at Mr. D

Then Chiron muttered something. "Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everybody cheered. They all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. This made Percy feel more at him and not uncomfortable anymore. He even laughed when Naruto sang loudly and started of a song he knew. Apparently he had camped before.

Then, Naruto smirked and started of a new song that he accidently heard when watching TV once. "Here, let's try this silly song." The blond said as he took out a country guitar from out of nowhere. "I would like the Ares cabin to, heh, help me out with this." Naruto said with a glint in his eye. Percy groaned to himself, he knew this song….he just hoped the Ares cabin didn't hurt his blond knuckleheaded friend. "After a long day of camp, it is nice to unwind a bit with a nice campfire song. I call this one, the Campfire Song Song." This got a mix of reactions. Some of the younger campers burst out laughing while the older generation was confused.

_Lets gather around the campfire_

_And sing our campfire song_

_Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song_

_And if you don't think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong_

_But it'll help if you just sing along _

Naruto smirked as a lot of the younger kids sang the next part, signaling the Ares cabin to get ready.

_Pam Pam Pam..._

Naruto grinned evilly.

_C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song_

_C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song_

_And if you dont think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong_

_But it'll help if you just sing along_

_C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song_

_Clarisse._

Not caring, she was already in the song and did her best to sing real fast like Naruto was.

_Song! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E..._

Naruto then ran over to Percy and called him out. He was not expecting that!

"GOOD!" Naruto smirked, getting a few laughes, mostly from the Ares cabin.

_It'll help_

_It'll help_

_If you just sing along!_

_OH YEAH!_

When he calmed down, Naruto looked at all the campers as they all just stared at him. Then, they all fell of their chairs and laughed their asses off.

Percy laughed the hardest because he could not believe his blond friend went through it and Clarisse didn't kill him. He looked over to see the girl eyeing Naruto with a smirk and small blush, heh, Naruto was so screwed. This girl obviously liked guts. Annabeth was too busy laughing laughing with the rest of her cabin to really care, those she did wonder why Naruto did this in the first place.

Mr. D was actually smiling, something that Chiron was shocked at. Who knew?

The boy's smiled at each other, they could honestly say that Camp Half Blood was not that bad after all. They were really starting to like it.

**END! Sorry I have not updated sooner. Family was on and I got distracted by Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I would do more but i gotta get to work!  
**

**Anyway, vote for the Fears in the REVIEWS!**


	9. BAD DOG!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 9**

**Yeah. It will pretty much be Naruto/Thalia/Clarisse. **

**Fear Poll:**

**Losing his friends and those he loves: 7**

**Ghosts: 4**

**Unnaturally pale old guys who like little boys: 6**

**Losing to Fate: 3**

The next few days were really weird, but it soon became routine and that fact mythical creatures were teaching Naruto was not bothering him. It might have bothered his friend Percy but, that is just Percy for you.

Each morning, they would go to a class called Ancient Greek, where they pretty much learned the Greek Language from Annabeth. Now, thanks to their Greek Heritage, they were about to understand it, but it was a little hard for Naruto because he confuse English, Japanese, and Greek with each other some of the time.

Then, after that and breakfast, they would participate in outdoor activities. This is where the boys separated for a bit to see what they were good at. Naruto went along with the schedule to see what was there and some really fun things.

The first one was Sword and Shield class and it was taught by Clarisse. She took this well and decided to prove herself against the blond haired warrior. Naruto, being himself, didn't pick any of the blades that were provided for him. He used the two blades he was giving to by Chiron. To say being were shocked and a little put off by the fierce blades was an understatement.

So while Clarisse used a sword and a shield, they rushed at each other.

_Flashback_

"Think you can win, Blondie?" asked Clarisse as they circled each other, with their audience watching silently.

"Can't say as I never used swords before." Naruto said, judging her reaction.

Clarisse got a cocky smirk on her face and swung her blade to the side, hoping to catch the blond off guard. He just blocked it with a reversed blade. "Now that is not to say I have never actually used a blade before."

Annoyed, Clarisse rammed her shield into the blond to unbalance him. It worked as he dropped his dragon sword. Noticing he and no time to pick it up, he ducked a sword strike that was meant for his head and thought up a plan.

"You know, this is a learning experience for all, so, I think I should teach you something as well!" Naruto said with a smirk and Clarisse just looked at him confused. "I was taught, to never watch the blade." He said as he threw it in the air. Everyone followed it with their eyes and that was all Naruto needed.

He rushed up and kicked and the shield out of Clarisse's hand, causing to drop her sword and fall on her ass. The next thing she knew was that a pair of black knives was around her neck. She saw that the Fox sword was imbedded into the ground and he was not there. So that must mean that he was the one with the knives!

"Now that, is called improvising if you are not good with what you are using." He said into her ear, making her shudder, but she did get to enjoy it much because he took the blades away and offered her a hand to get back up. She gratefully took it and walked away silently. No one saw the blush on her face as they were all asking if Naruto could fight him.

_Flashback End_

That had been fun, but he could not figure out why Clarisse walked away and why she would not look at him for the rest of that day…..odd.

After that, he tried out the archery class with Chiron. The horse man did say he was just a bit better than Percy. Naruto was not great at it. He could throw kunai and shurikan, but he was just not that great with bows and arrows. Though, he did admit that that pack more power than his throwing weapons.

The next thing he tried was wing horseback riding. At first, the horses were wary of him because he had an odd smell. But one did come up to him and it was a pure silver one. That had been shocking because that won did not trust a lot of people and with a first meeting to boot.

So, after their lunch, they all practiced aerial combat. At first, Naruto had been air sick, but quickly got over that. Just like last time, he had no clue how to fight in the air, so he improved again, scaring the crap out of the Demeter cabin when he had jumped off his Pegasus and kicked his opponent in the head to knock him away. The part that scared them, however, was that he was then free falling to the ground. Luckily, the Pegasus caught him. Let's just say he had mae an impression on the Demeter cabin. Whether it was good or not, only time would tell.

Then had a class on monster assaulting and he made that even more fun than what the Hermes cabin was doing. He blasted some of the monsters stocked in the woods with his wind attacks so that the other campers could get a good strike in before it regained its bearings.

After that he had a choice on what he could do. So for the next three days, he tried something new each time. In Arts and Crafts, he and the Hephaestus cabin had created a ninja-to with celestial bronze and the Minotaur horn he had acquired. It was pretty effective in the weapon area and he now had another weapon to use, always a plus! And since they had time, they had created a unique shield for him. On each arm was half of it and it could turn into a huge shield if he put the two together and the two halves acted as a weapon that Naruto thought up, buzz saws! Those three were added to his bracelets. The charms were that of the half a shield on both arms and a horn for the Minotaur blade. Oh yeah, he could defiantly work with the Hephaestus kids again.

Another day, he tried canoe racing. That….did not go well. After five minutes of paddling in circles, he jumped out of the boat, lifted it and water walked all the way to the finish line. Of course Percy was in the class and beat him, but he was second, still it was funny to see their gob smacked faces at how he could walk on the water. With the wall climbing thing, he got bored of that real quick as all he had to do was walk up it and he was done. That of course scared the crap out of the satyrs, much to his amusement. Then he had some fun in the sun on the nearby beach, that was some good relaxing time, but that was it to Naruto and of course he was oblivious to all the girl ogling him, mostly Clarisse and the Aphrodite cabin girls.

After all that, there was free time and Naruto with either talk to Thalia in Limbo or hand out with, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. During that time, Percy told them about his sword fight with their cabin leader, Luke. That was fun to hear about but they had also heard about his sword fight with Clarisse and wanted to know more on what happened.

Thalia was very interested in knowing what he did, and that was to be expected from someone suck in a tree. The day before Capture the Flag, Naruto told her all about his world and she was skeptical at first but she soon believed him when he was able to do a jutsu in limbo. She then told him about her journey to camp half-blood with Luke, Annabeth, and Grover. That was a really interesting tale. Before he left that night, he told her he would find a way to help her out of the tree and that was a promise. She just smiled and hugged him, hoping that he would be able to save her from this nightmare.

Now however, Naruto, Percy, and Grover were at the pier. Naruto was watching the clouds while the other two were staring into the water. Naruto could tell that Percy had barely survived the rock wall because he smelt all toasty. When he heard Grover saying something about a searcher's license, he asked, "Ok what the heck is a searcher's license?"

"Oh!" Grover jumped, forgetting that his friend was there. "It will let me search for Pan, God of the Wild."

"Huh….so you get it?" the blond asked.

Grover looked down at the naiads in the water. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you two yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we all came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."

"Well, that's not so bad, right?" Percy asked.

"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"

"Of course we would want you along!' Percy said.

Naruto bopped his goat like friend on the head. "Don't be so gloomy! You are our friend!"

Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill."

Naruto and Percy tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. They talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, with Naruto being better at sword play than at canoeing. That made Percy laugh at the memory of his friend going in circles. Then they debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Naruto said that if one had the lord of the dead on your side, you would not have to worry about monsters going after you. Finally, Percy asked Grover about the four empty cabins.

"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."

"Understandable, but come on! Having no kids of your own? That kinda sucks." Naruto commented.

"Well, she is head of the hunters, so she has kids, but they are not her own." Grover said.

"Hmm, claiming unclaimed kids, nice!" Naruto said.

"But, they are only girls." Grover replied.

Naruto thought about it and shivered, if Anko was there, thing would be crazy!

"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?" Asked Percy.

Grover tensed. The two boys guessed they were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." Percy stated.

"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their

dad and drew lots to decide who got what."

"Zeus got the sky," Naruto stated. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."

"Uh-huh." Grover said.

"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here." Surprisingly, Percy said this.

"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."

"He can't be that bad." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"He is kind of creepy." Grover stated.

"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?" Percy asked.

Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."

"Well, that is interesting. A world war caused by your kids….i think they made a good choice, except one thing bugs me." Naruto said.

"What?" Percy asked.

"They are immortal. They are going to break that oath one day, because nobody can give up their life style."

"Wow, I don't think they even thought about that." Grover said with wide eyes.

"But they have kept that oath…right." Percy asked

Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia .. . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off

because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."

Naruto's face darkened. _Yeah, dear old day could not protect his daughter from all the way up there and let her be turned into a tree right before she died!_

"But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault." Percy said and Naruto nodded.

Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other halfbloods.

They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."

He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where they had fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."

Percy stared at the pine in the distance and he noticed that Naruto was clenching his fists. The story made him feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl his age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, their victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. He wondered, if he'd acted differently, could he have saved his mother?

"Grover," Percy said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"

"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."

"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"

"No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"

"No," He lied. "I was just wondering. So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"

Before Grover could answer, Naruto piped in. "Percy, I know how you feel, but you can't really revive some one that is dead. I know a ninja that did and he was truly a madman."

"What do you mean 'I know how you feel'?" Percy asked.

"I have wanted to revive my mom for a long time, but when I heard what Orochimaru had done, I took back my idea of doing that?"

"What did he do?" Grover asked, now curious."

"When he was fighting his old teacher, old man hokage, he summon the long dead, first and second Hokages by sacrificing the bodies of his students. You see, to revive someone, you have to kill someone in return." Naruto explained and he saw horrified looks on his two friends. "So please, don't even try it."

"I won't" Percy said, shaky because of that story.

Grover decided to change the subject by answering Percy's question. "We are not always assigned that way.. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."

"And you found me and then Naruto. Chiron said you thought me and Naruto might be something special."

Grover looked as if Percy had just led him into a trap, and Naruto smirked. Grover had been caught! "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you _were_—you know—you'd never _ever_ be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"

"Really Grover, Nemesis? Percy is not that vengeful, now Sasuke might be and if he is, I would not be surprised." Naruto said, whiel the other two shudder, they knew about Sasuke and his obsession with power and revenge. "What about me?'

"Uh….you seem to be good at making stuff, so would say you are related to the smith god."

"Hmm…you have a point.' Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Hehm, or the goddess of love." Percy said with a smirk, but Naruto just looked at him confused. _You can't be serious…_

XXXX

At last, it was time for capture the flag.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"Ah, so those must be the flags." Naruto stated.

"Yeah." He heard Luke say.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" Percy asked.

"Not always," Luke said. "But often."

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?" Percy asked.

Luke grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?" Naruto asked.

Luke gave them a sly look, that combined with his scar, made him look evil in the torch light. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And the two of you are going to help."

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what Naruto seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters they weren't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. All in all, Naruto thought he was have some real fun today!

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

"Whoa," Percy said in surprise. "We're really supposed to use these?"

Luke looked at him as if Percy had gone crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."

While Luke was fitting Percy with Greek armor, Naruto was chuckling to himself, "Man, this reminds of the chunin exams, I just hope nothing bad happens. He then took out a scroll and out popped a set of ANBU gear that he, heh, acquired before he left. People looked at him oddly before shrugging it off, already used to Naruto oddities. "Ok I got to ask. Where did you get those!" Percy asked.

"I uh, stole them before I left home. Thought they would come in handy someday."

"Ok then, you might be Hermes kid now." Percy deadpanned while Luke smirked.

Naruto decided to humor them by putting on a greek helmet with the blue fur on top because blue was for Athena's side. Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

The group cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north. Percy though wondered why his blond friend did not take out his weapon, not that he knew that Naruto was armed tot the teeth.

Percy made his way to the Annabeth without tripping all over his armor and said, "Hey." Though she just kept on marching. "So what's the plan?" He asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?" Naruto noticed that her hand was hovering over her pocket when his friend asked that. Quirking an eyebrow, he decided to get in more to eavesdrop.

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Nice to know!" Naruto's voice said from above them. They knew he was probably tree hoping, so they were not concerned.

"Border patrol, same as Naruto, whatever that means."

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." She said as he pushed ahead, leaving him in the dust.

"Okay," Percy mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."

Naruto jumped down next to him, scaring him and a few others. "Don't worry about, patrol is an important task as well. Besides, if you are lucky, you might be able to fight!"

"Gee thanks." Percy rolled his eyes.

XXXX

Day had turned to night by now as Naruto and Percy were stationed next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. The two stood there for a little bit and groaned.

"I get it, border patrol is out of the way, so newbies like us won't their way." Naruto growled. He needed to do something. Smirking he got an idea. He performed his favorite jutsu just as a horn sounded and they heard whoops from enemy territory. While he left a copy to watch over Percy, he went into the forest to scare some campers.

Soon he came upon a few Demeter and Aphrodite kids and smirked. He took out his new ninja-to. The one thing he found out about this new blade that it had a special ability. It had the power to project genjutsu. He smirked and sent chakra to. He made and grunt and they looked over to him and their eyes widened in fear. For what they saw was the Minotaur! He had an advance on them and their screamed and ran. "Oh yeah, this will be really useful in the future." He was then assaulted by the memories of the clone he left with Percy, it dispelled itself right as Clarisse attacked Percy. "Hmmm, I wonder what she has against him." He wondered aloud as he shunshin to where Percy was, only behind a tree so he could surprise them. Climbing to a tree branch, he watched as Percy did his best against Clarisse and her friends. _Ah, so her spear has the lightning element infused with it...ouch._

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."

Percy managed to get to his feet. He raised his sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both of his my arms felt numb.

"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

"The flag is that way," Percy told her, he meant to sound angry but Naruto and the others heard it differently, if the situation was different, the blond would have laughed.

"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You do that without my help," Percy growled out and he instantly regretted it because it was probably the dumbest thing to say at the moment.

Two of them came at Percy. He backed up toward the creek, tried to raise myhis shield, but Clarisse too fast. Her spear stuck his straight in the ribs. If he hadn't been wearing an armored

breastplate, he would've been shish-ke-babbed, it still hurt like hell because the point got htrough and shocked him.. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across his arm, leaving a goodsize

cut.

"No maiming," Percy got out, feeling dizzy. Now Naruto had enough, he took out something to end this.

"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege." They then pushed Percy into the lake, which was a mistake for them.

"**Demon Windmill Shurikan!"**

"Demon what?" On of the ares kids yelled. They all looked around them to see a huge ass shurikan coming right for them! "WHAT THE HELL!" the same kid yelled as all of them dove out of the way, but when they looked up, it was spinning place.

Somehow, Clarisse knew that it was Naruto and got ready. She was proven correct as it poofed into said blond. "Hiya, you all miss me?" Everyone just looked at him like he had grown two heads.

"The hell were you!" he heard Percy, who looked all healed up now.

"Scaring off their reinforcements." Naruto said with a dumb grin.

"Damnit!"one the ares kids said. "Charge!"

The two boys nodded to each other and got back to back. They had been in fist fights at school and they knew what to do. Two Ares kids rushed Percy and he swung away their blades before he punched one in the gut and then kicked the other in the face. He was so glad Naruto taught him how to fight better.

The other Ares kids rushed Naruto, who just smirked as he blocked the first two's swords before he pushed their blades away and then grabbed their head to bonk them together. He then ducked a blade that was aimed for his head. He fell to the ground and jumped up to punch the kid upwards like he did to Neji and then preformed a Leaf Hurricane to the his stomach, sending him to a nearby tree. Naruto then looked to Clarisse and gave her a 'come on' gesture with his hands. Not wanted to miss out on a new battle, she charged the blond.

Naruto bent over backwards as the spear passed over him, he then swung around it to use it as a spring board and jumped high the air. Using her temporary distraction, Percy came up and sliced the blade of the spear off. She looked back at Percy to a sword in her face and two knives at her neck….again. "We win, Princess of War." Naruto said into her ear, making her blush again.

Then they heard yelling, elated screams, and they saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. The blue side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. They had won!

The boy were about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to them in the creek, said, "Not bad, heroes."

Percy looked around but should not see her. Naruto, however, did. She took of the cap she was wearing and said "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?"

Percy was at first shocked before he pointed to Naruto. "You set us up. You put us here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized."

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help, Narutp came in pretty quick with that huge Shurikan like weapon."

Annabeth then looked at Percy's arm. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut," Percy said. "What do you think?"

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."

"Well damn, will you look at that!" Naruto commented as they saw that it was healed up.

"I—I don't get it," Percy said, shocked. The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

Annabeth was thinking hard. She looked down at his feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What—"

"Just do it."

Sighing, he got out and looked bone dry. He also looked to have the adrenaline rush gone that he had when fighting. So he fell, but Annabeth quickly supported him.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..."

Naruto looked at her oddly before he got it as well, but he did not have much time to voice his thoughts because he heard a growl before a loud howl ripped through the forest. The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which He and Percy somehow knew it was, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword.

There on the rocks just above them was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and

fangs like daggers and it was looking straight at Percy. Annabeth told him to run but he was froze in fear at this beast, so she stood in front of him. That didn't do much for him because it just jumped over her and landed right in front of Percy. He fell on his ass as it slashed at him and snarled, showing its many teeth to the young boy.

By this point, Naruto stepped in, having enough of people and beasts trying to kill his friend. "BAD DOG! **U**!" He yelled as he charged the beast, much to Chiron's protest, and kick it up in the air. Naruto created four clones of himself, and they shot into the air. "**ZU**!" they yelled as one of them kicked it higher into the air, then two came on both sides of it and struck the beast's sides with high powered kicks. "**MA! KI**!" Then the original decended down to the beast with his new Rasengan his has been working on. "**Oodama Rasengan Barrage**!" He drove the large ball of swirl energy into the stomach, making it cry out in agonizing pain.

Jumping away, he cursed as he saw the wound on the beast, healing up, just like with the Minotaur. "Screw this!" He yelled as he performed a familiar set of hand seals. "**Summoning Jutsu!" **There was a large poof of smoke and everyone's eyes widened to see that Naruto was on a giant orange….toad?

"**What the hell!" ** The toad yelled, shocked everyone more as it looked up. **"NARUTO! I thought you were dead!"**

"I'll explain later GamaKichi, right now I need some oil!" Naruto said in a rush. The toad looked to where Naruto was glare at and grunted. Some giant dog huh, well this should be easy. He spat out the oil just as Naruto called out, "**Fire style: Hellfire Dragon!"** Out of his mouth came a huge black flaming dragon that, with combined with the oil, made it even larger before it arced upwards and then crashed down on the scared shitless dog like creature. When it was over, Naruto turned to his shell shocked audience and decided to crack a joke, "Someone order an extra crispy dog?"

"Whoa…" said one of the younger Ares campers. There was a murmuring of whispers on how the heck Naruto had done that.

Chiron trotted up next Percy and Naruto as the giant told disappeared, with a grim face.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her. They watched as what remain of the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told Percy. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this." Percy was too tired to argue. He stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him. He instantly looked a lot better and the cut on his chest healed up like nothing had happened.

"Look, I—I don't know why," He said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..." But they were not watching that, He saw that their eyes, Naruto included, where above his head.

"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing upward. "Um ..."

By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but he could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around mehim, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy, about it. Of course, Naruto didn't making him feel better, because this was just awkward.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus

Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Percy looked to Naruto for help, but gasped as he saw three images above Naruto! Everyone looked where he was and their jaws dropped. Above Naruto, were three symbols. One, larger than the other two was that of a gold helmet, the symbol of Hades. The other two were a scallop and a crescent moon with a star in it.

"Oh crap, Hades, God of the Underworld." Grover announced, "but what are the other two?"

"The scallop is Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and the last one is Nyx, Ancient Goddess of Night." Chiron said with a Grim face. "Naruto Uzumaki is the Son of Hades and is related to Aphrodite and Nyx."

"Holy crap." Came a voice from the crowd, pretty much saying what was on all their minds.

"Hmmm." Naruto said in a thinking pose, making it almost comical. "My dad being Hades would probably explain why I have this Limbo power that lets me talk to Thalia in her tree." Silence.

"WHAT!" Everyone in the camp screamed.

**Hope that was ok for you all. I am going to bed. Review.**


	10. Does the Oracle do drugs?

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 10**

**Fear Poll:**

**Losing his friends and those he loves: 9**

**Ghosts: 4**

**Unnaturally pale old guys who like little boys: 10**

**Losing to Fate: 3**

Everyone had moved to the area in the middle of all the cabins. People had been shocked about Percy being the son of Poseidon, but that was trampled on by the shock of Naruto's lineage. His family must have been interesting to keep the blood of a primordial goddess, or ancient titan, running through his veins.

"Naruto, you never cease to amaze and surprise people that much is for sure." Chiron said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I got that a lot back home. I was always doing the impossible, like this time I painted the hokage monument, uh our version of Mount Rushmore, in broad daylight, wearing kill me orange, and in a ninja village. I mean, no one noticed until after I was done." Naruto chuckled and looked at everyone's reaction. Percy heard this story already but he never could stop laughing at it. For some reason, Annabeth looked a little peeved, Chiron and many other camper's jaws were on the floor and a lot of people in the Hermes cabin had a new hero. "Oh and let me resummon Gamakichi, he is going to want to know the same thinga as you guys. **Summoning Jutsu!"** In a poof of smoke, the orange toad was back. "Kichi, for now jutsu listen and you might learn something." The toad jutsu nodded.

"Naruto, how did that go?" asked Chiron. "If I heard correctly, the gods said there were ninja ranks in that world you come from.

"Oh yeah, that was fun. I did that as an academy student, they learn how to be ninja, and lead chunin, jonin, and ANBU on a while goose chase throughout the whole village and the only one who managed to catch me was my academy teacher since he was looking for me anyway. I skipped class that day." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head.

Annabeth looked at him oddly before asking, "I am guessing that those names were ninja ranks?"

"Yeah, we got the academy students, then genin, chunin, jonin, ANBU, and finally a Kage, who is the strongest ninja in the village and its leader."

"Wow, that is amazing!" Grover said, think that Naruto must be some high level ninja. "So when you left, what rank were you?"

"Genin." Came the simple reply that made a lot of people sweatdrop.

"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you was why you did not tell us about Thalia." Chiron said.

"Uh, I did not think you would believe me." Naruto shrugged.

"Well, I guess that might have happened. Now, do you of any quirks you could have gotten from any of your lineage?" Chiron asked and everyone leaned in to listen.

"Well, I am guessing my limbo power is from dad, I also have some jutsu styles like, Hellfire, Shadow, and I might have the Death style. That is all I know so far. I don't know much about Lady Nyx so I don't know if I have any powers from her. Now for Lady Aphrodite, I would say my Sexy Jutsu could be from her." Naruto said thoughtfully while the toad started laughing, remembering the story of how Naruto got Jiriaya to teach him.

"Sexy Jutsu, I am not quite sure what you mean by that, but is must be amusing, seeing as your toad summon is laughing." Chiron said.

"Yeah well, I created this jutsu to flush out the perverts in my old village and believe me, there are a lot." Naruto grumbled. "Especially both of my sensei. Kakashi would read his porn in public while Jiriaya was the creator of said book. So I would call it my Pervert Knockout Jutsu."

"Can you demonstrate?" Mr. D asked, shocking Naruto.

"Um sure." Naurto while gather chakra for it. Percy, who had asked the same thing once upon a time, held the bridge of his nose in annoyance and turn around, getting a raised eyebrow from Annabeth. "Ladies, I ask that you please don't kill me. **Sexy Jutsu!**" In a poof of smoke, Naruto had turned into a naked girl, with wisps of smoke covering 'her' private areas.

For a moment, there was silence. Percy counted down in his heard and smirked with he heard the familiar sound of people hitting the ground. Which was mostly the guys of the Ares cabin and some from the Hermes cabin.

Naruto sweatdropped when he saw a lot of people, including Mr. D fall back with bloody noses. The girls of the Aphrodite were looking at the jutsu appraising before nodding their heads that it was good. The other girls were looking at the fallen boys with murderous glares and thankfully it was not directed at him.

"Well, if you would please return back to normal." Chiron said with a small blush on his face. "We need to assign to you to new cabins." Naruto nodded and ended the jutsu, much to the guys' relief.

"I have a question though." Naruto stated. "If my dad, Minato Namikaze, was actually Hades, Lord of the Dead, in disguise, then would my mom would be the daughter of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, but how does Nyx, the Primordial Goddess of Night, play into all of this?" Naruto asked, making the toad look at him so fast you would think he just got whiplash.

"I would have to guess that Lady Nyx is your great grandmother and it is thanks to Aphrodite and Hades that you still have her blood in you. Also, having her blood makes you part titan as well. That is because the children of her and her sister Gaia, were titans." Chiron said, a little uneasy.

"Aiya! I am part human, part god, AND part titan, I am the deluxe package!" Naruto said with a hand on his head. That statement though made a lot of the campers chuckle.

"Right, Percy, you will be in your father's cabin, so go get your stuff." Chiron said and Percy just nodded while he and Luke quickly got his stuff. "Now Naruto, I am not so sure where to put you."

"Oh I don't think we would mind." called out a beautiful girl with black hair and brown eyes.

"Ah thank you Silena! Naruto…Naruto?" Chiron said as he looked at Naruto, who was looking at something that was not there in the space between Poseidon's and Zeus's cabins.

"I noticed there is not a Hades cabin." Naruto deadpanned.

"Ah, well we never had any kids from Hades in the U.S." He pause for a moment, letting that sick in.

Naruto froze and shivered. "You have got to be kidding me! I am related to HITLER OF ALL PEOPLE!"

"Unfortunately, yes." Grover groaned, "So that was why we never had the cabin."

"Hmm, maybe we can!" Naruto said as he ran to the empty spot between cabins.

Percy, who had gotten back a little while ago, asked, "Ok what do you mean by that?"

"Well, when I got to this world, I was given a scroll that had a list of jutsu in it. You know, like that Hellfire Jutsu I used. There was on in it that said to only use when the time was right. I would think now is the time for that jutsu to be unleashed!" Naruto said in excitement and be began a set of hand signs and loading them with chakra.

"Interesting." Chiron said.

"**Summoning Jutsu: Rising House of the Dead!" **Grover, Gamakichi, and a few others were getting a bad feeling about this. After he called out the jutsu, the ground began to shake and Naruto had to jump away as a fissure opened up and a building as black as night, rose from the ground. Though, what unsettled everyone was the screams of the dead that came along with the new cabin.

"Well, that's new." Percy deadpanned, startling a lot of people.

"Yep, and now we have a Hades cabin." Naruto beamed.

"That is good and all but you are still welcome in the Aphrodite cabin, just so you know." Chiron stated before walking away, rubbing his head because this experience has given him a major headache. Still, at least the blond could talk to Thalia, which was always a plus.

"Uh, I have a question." The orange toad spoke up.

"What is it Kichi?" Naruto replied.

"Why are you so young!"

"Are you kidding me? I have only been gone for half a year."

"Uh…over there, it has been 3 years." Kichi replied

"Say what…" Naruto whispered as he felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on him.

"Really, the eclipse must be soon then." Mr. D said with interest, getting a lot of confused looks. "It means that it has only been 3 year over in Naruto's world and if that is the case, time problem will reverse and 3 years will pass here and time will have barely passed over there."

"OK so what is so special about the eclipse?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I am sure you will find out." Mr. D smirked.

XXXX

"You what?" Thalia yelled. "You actually beat a huge hellhound with those ninja techniques?"

"Yes, and I let slip that I can talk to you." Naruto said with his eyes closed, waiting for the girl to hit him, but it never happened. He looked back at her and saw that she was smiling sadly.

"So how did they take it, Grover, Annabeth, and Luke , I mean." Thalia asked nervously.

"Well Grover was bouncing of the trees, much to their annoyance. Annabeth was very happy and that she to help you out, which I will do. I WILL get you out of this place, even if it kills me. That is a promise!" Naruto said with a foxy smile that made Thalia blush a bit.

"A-and Luke" she asked softly

"Hmm, he was the odd ball. He just smiled sadly and said to protect you, which I promised I would." Naruto said thoughtfully until she hugged him.

"Thank you, Naruto."

"Hey it's no problem Thalia." He said surprised but hugged her back anyway. He got a smile on his face and said, "You know, that incident made our parent claim us."

Backing up, Thalia smiled and asked, "So, are you going to tell me?"

"Heh, Percy is the son of Poseidon." Naruto said, making Thalia's eyes widen. "Me on other hand, that is different. I got a chain going on."

"A what?"

"Well, I am the son of Hades and I am also related to Aphrodite and Nyx." Naruto shrugged like it was no big deal, but the look on Thalia's face told him otherwise.

"So you are also part titan?" She asked shocked.

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't know how I am related to Aphrodite when I don't act like her kids."

Thalia thought about it and thought that he did not act like Hades' kids either. "Hmm, maybe because of the mixed blood of Aphrodite and Hades, it would explain some things. You are not super crazy like Hades's kids and you are not worried about your looks like Aphrodite's kids. You are in between, which is pretty good to me."

"Yeah, I am so glad I am not Hitler of all people." Naruto growled while saying that name with venom. "Though the only thing I can think of that would make me related to Aphrodite would be my sexy jutsu."

Thalia gave him a deadpanned look. _Does he not look in the mirror?_ "Well, I am sure you will find out someday."

"Yeah I guess. Anyway, I should get going, curfew and all." Naruto said with a sad smile, he really like Thalia for some reason.

"Ok." Thalia said, giving him another hug, enjoying the feeling of being in contact with another human, especially Naruto because he seemed to emit a lot of warmth. Naruto saw her smile a big and returned the hug. "Oh and when I get out of here, you have got to show me this sexy jutsu of yours."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Then you will be in for a blast if you like to see all the guys get blown back by nosebleeds." Thalia just smiled as she saw her friend fade away, savoring the warmth until he was gone.

Back outside, we see Naruto standing in front of the tree with a palm on it. Opening his eyes, he smiled to himself and turned around only to freeze. The first thing he noticed that it was night time and that there were two people just standing there. The first was a very beautiful woman with long black hair in a very high class looking dress. The second was a tall man with sharp looking eyes, black hair, and was in a midnight black business suit.

"Uh…can I help you?" Naruto asked warily.

The woman smiled before saying, "Hello Naruto, I am Nyx and this is my husband, Erebus"

Naruto's eyes widened and said, "Wow, the Goddess of the Night, but I am not sure who you are sir."

"I am the God of Darkness and Shadow." The man said simply.

"Ok, now I am not being rude or anything, but why are you two here?" Naruto asked, not understanding.

The woman smiled, "Naruto I came here to see you. In a sense, you are one of my children. But since you were born this way, you are not immortal. That can be fixed since the deities have great interest in you, which is mostly because you are not like any other demi-deity they have seen."

"Demi-Deity?"

"Yes." Erebus spoke. "You are part god, part titan, and part human. That has never happened or never been acknowledged before anyway."

"Right and normally we would be your great grandparents but I don't like that so we will do something about that." Nyx replied as she and Erebus put a hand on either shoulder and Naruto glowed for moment.

Naruto felt weird. "What did you do and why?"

"We simply strengthened your titan blood. As for why, well when the prophecy that surrounds the big three's children is over, you will be given a chance to become immortal, along with anyone else you wish to be with you." Erebus said.

"Since Hades strengthened your god blood by being your father, we decided to do the same. Also, along your journey to the prophecy, you will meet you sibling and they will give you a bit of their power as they want to see what you will become."

"Anothing thing we gave you is some jutsu styles." Erebus explained. "Though you will have to create your own jutsu. What you got from Nyx and I is the Night/Darkness style. I also gave you what my father wishes to give you, the Chaos style. Sister Gaia also sees great potential in you and has asked me to give you this." He then pointed to a charm on Naruto wrist band. It was in the shape of a gauntlet. "That is the Terra Force. It gives you slight control over the earth and gives you better control and more power if you have any earth jutsu, not to mention it gives off a lot of strength."

"I don't know what to say, but thanks." Naruto said with a genuine smile

Nyx came up and hugged him. "It is no problem, but we want you to call us mom and dad too. Oh and know that I will always be looking out for you, just like I always have when you stared off into the night and felt better because of it."

"No problem." Naruto returned the hug with tears in his eyes. She backed up and in and flash of Darkness, they were gone. "No problem at all." Later that night, Naruto would have the same dream as Percy would. The dream where Poseidon and Zeus were fight in Greek armor while Hades cheered from the sidelines with his ghost cheerleaders. Well, that was until a voice that seemed to be from underground, woke them up.

_Back in Konoha…Hokage Tower_

Jiriaya and Tsunade where sitting that desk that Tsunade usually did paperwork, but since she threatened Shizune, they were relaxing today. They were playing a poker game and drinking. Well, that was until a familiar orange toad popped into the office.

"Gamakichi? What are you doing here?" asked a surprised Jiriaya.

"Naruto summoned me AND it has only been half a year over where he is!"

"Say what?" commented Tsunade.

"Yeah and Minato was not really Minato. He was actually some dude called Hades, God of the Underworld!" That made both of the sannin have wide eyes.

"So….Naruto is in the world of the Greek Gods!" Tsunade all but yelled.

"Yeah and we beat a larger than average hellhound." Kichi beamed. "Though the weird thing is that someone named Mr. D said that this time wrap is going to reverse and three years will have passed there and only a half a year or so will pass over here until some eclipse."

Having lived long enough, they knew the significance of that event. "I guess it will be happening again." Jiriaya sighed.

"But this time, we will have something to look forward to." Tsunade said with a smile, but Gamakichi just looked on confused.

_Back with Naruto…_

_Come down, little heroes, _the voice crooned. _Come down!_

The sand split beneath them, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. Their feet slipped, and darkness swallowed them. Naruto was sure Percy had already woken up because he did not see his ghostly form in this dream anymore. He, however, stayed right where he was and fell until he was floating. He looked around, but only found darkness…well that was until two evil looking eyes and two rows of very sharp teeth.

"The hell are you?" Naruto asked with no fear.

"_What is this, no fear?"_

"I did not show fear to half the Kraken's power, so I don't think I will show fear to some freak in the dark."

"INSOLENCE! I will teach you to fear me my unique demi-deity!"

"Yeah well, until then….ciao!" Naruto said as he shimmered from view.

_XXXX_

"Naruto! Open the door, I got Percy, we have to get to the big house!" Grover's voice came from his door. Grumbling, Naruto opened up the door to let Grover into the Hades cabin.

"What does he need us for?" Naruto said, rubbing his eyes.

"Just hurry….and put on some clothes, you are only in your boxers!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said as he walked back in and a few minutes later, he was in his usual attire. "Ok I am ready."

On the way there, Percy looked really nervous for some reason, like he thought he was in trouble for some reason. Naruto put a hand on the boy's shoulder and when the son of Poseidon looked at him, he just smiled. That seemed to calm Percy a bit. "I don't understand how you can be so calm. I mean, we are a couple of kids that should not exist!"

"Simple….I don't think about it." Naruto smirked. That just cause Percy to sigh, he should have known. Naruto looked up and saw that the sky looked like it was ready to storm. Whistling, Naruto said, "That is one big storm, I wonder it will actually rain.

"No," Grover said. "It never rains here unless we want it to." Percy found himself agreeing to this because for as long as they have been here, it never rained; let alone being overcast at all.

"What the heck is that, then?" asked Percy.

Grover glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does." They left it all that, but Naruto got the feeling that their half goat friend was not telling them everything, because to him, that was a big ass storm.

At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

All three walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents—two sets of cards hovering in the air. Naruto wondered how the hell they did that, but stayed quiet for now.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrities."

"Come closer boys," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old

Barnacle-Beard is your father." He pointed to Percy and then smirked at Naruto. He actually liked the blond, but no way was he going to say that out loud, "Same to you, even if you are related to those three." At that, a net of lightning spread across the clouds above. Mr. D didn't seem to care. "Blah blah blah."

Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth. Percy looked a little freaked and Naruto, he looked up, wondering if he could pull that off…that or Sasuke anyway.

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"You don't say?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Percy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

"Mr. D—" Chiron warned, while Naruto why everyone seemed to be on Percy's case.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If they are still here when I get back, I'll turn Percy into an Atlantic bottlenose and….well I am not sure what to turn Naruto into. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do." Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.

He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.

"Show off."

"Uh, I would not talk if I were you Naruto." Percy said.

Chiron smiled and said, "I would like you boys to sit down please." They compiled. Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use. Sad, Tsunade would probably kill for that. "Tell me boys, what do you make of the hellhound?"

"It scared me," Percy replied, "If Naruto hadn't made it extra crispy, I would not be here right now."

"It was odd for me. I didn't listen much to my old teacher Kakashi, but if I were to look underneath the underneath, I think someone summoned it here somehow. Though, I would have to say that it would be a cool summoning contract." Naruto said thoughtfully, making Percy sweatdrop.

"Trust me, you two will have fought far worse, when you are done. Especially you, Naruto" Chiron commented.

"Done…with what?" asked Percy.

"Yeah, and why me?"

"Simple, your blood is very powerful and it repels the weaker monsters, but only the strongest of the monsters will come after you." Chiron explained. "Now Percy, what I meant was your joint quest. This kind of quest hasn't been done before, so do you except it."

"Depends on what we have to do." Naruto said with his arms crossed while Percy nodded to his comment.

Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. The boys looked over and thought it odd that the sea looked to be boiling over.

"Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus," Percy said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?"

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

Percy looked embarrassed at that for some reason. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."

"Huh, you too huh?" Naruto asked, which made Percy's eyes widen.

"I knew it," Grover said.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"But it is their quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"

"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you correct. Your fathers and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt. Of course Hades is merely egging them on for his own amusement."

"A _what_?" Percy chuckled nervously.

"It always has to be lightning…" Naruto slapped his face.

"Huh?" Percy asked.

"Percy, I was not joking I got run through with a lightning blade twice." Naruto said stiffly and he lifted his shirt to reveal the Chidori scar, making Percy and Grover's eyes widen and causing Chiron to wince.

The horse man quickly recovered after seeing this and that only strengthened what he was about to say. "Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives. Thankfully, it has not been used as a sword."

"Oh."

"Oh man, I bet shinobi would love to have that" Naruto chuckled, but was silenced by Chiron's glare.

"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

"And it's missing?" asked Percy.

"Stolen," Chiron said.

"By who?" asked Naruto

"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you two."

Percy's jaw dropped. Naruto got a pissed off look. "Of all the….ARGH!"

"At least"—Chiron held up a hand—"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother

Rhea always liked you best,' Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Of course he blamed Hades as well, he think it would be useful in the underground, a lot of people know he really couldn't care less about their petty arguments, but he would not stay down if someone accused him of something like that. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly—that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your fathers convinced a human hero to take it."

"But we didn't—"

"Patience and listen, children," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."

"Ok, so why me then?" Naruto asked.

"Everyone knows Hades is bitter for being tricked into ruling the Underworld. Zeus thinks that Hades is conspiring with Poseidon to get a copy or the real thing as he wants to take Zeus's rule away."

"Ok…but I have never been to Oympus." Naruto deadpanned.

"Yeah, me either! Zeus is crazy." Percy was freaking out.

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around them, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing them in like a coffin lid.

"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested, while Naruto grumbled something about power hungry gods. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before, same with Hades. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at Percy as if he actually expected him to remember question thirty-eight. Naruto just rolled his eyes.

"Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"

"I guess for my dad, that story that made into a movie…Clash of the Titans." Naruto took a wack at it.

"Correct, both of you." Chrion said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon, nor Hades since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. Hades just said he didn't, not feeling like starting a war for he already has too much work. And now, you two have come along—the proverbial last straw."

"But we are just kids! I don't even think Naruto could pull that off!" Percy freaked.

"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brothers was plotting to overthrow you, then your brothers suddenly admitted that they had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that they have fathered a couple of new mortal heroes who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"

"Yeah, me either, like you said, my dad is just too busy in the Underworld!" Naruto growled.

Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's nor Hades' style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that and Hades has just become too lazy. Zeus has demanded that they return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date and Hades doesn't care either way, just that this matter be solved before he is overloaded.. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the three brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"

"Bad?" Percy guessed.

Naruto snorted. "I have read about the shinobi wars contrary to everyone's belief back hom….and they were bad. I would have to believe this would be a lot worse."

"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."

"Yikes…" Naruto cringed.

"Bad," Percy repeated.

"And you two, Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki would be the first two to feel Zeus's wrath."

Percy had a dumbstruck look on his face and Naruto actually looked nervous.

"So we have to find the stupid bolt," Percy said. "And return it to Zeus."

"Yeah, I would rather do that…I am not sure I am strong enough to beat some god." Naruto chuckled nervously.

"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon and the son of Hades return Zeus's property?"

"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?" Percy asked.

"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."

"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?" Percy asked.

"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."

Percy swallowed. "Good reason."

"You agree then?"

Percy looked to Grover, who nodded and then to Naruto, who looked ready for anything. They nodded to each other and at the same time, they said, "We accept!"

"Besides, it is better than being turned into a dolphin." Percy stated, which made Naruto chuckle.

"Then it's time you two consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

Naruto's eye twitched, that was never a good sign. What could this oracle be like? It can't be that bad, can it?" He would soon find out as he and Percy went up four floors that ended under a green trapdoor. Percy , pulled the cord and it swung open to reveal a ladder. The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else…something that Percy remembered from biology class and Naruto from the one man he really didn't like. Snakes.

Of course it really smelled bad, so they covered their faces as they went up.

The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things—severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time. Percy got a freaked out look on his face while Naruto had an uncomfortable look.

Then, a green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. Percy fell over and tried to get out, but the trapdoor was shut tight. Naruto was stone still as he glared at the mist, not liking this. Then they heard a voice in their heads. _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seekers, and ask. _Naruto could tell this was freaking out his friend, so he put a hand on his shoulder and it seemed to work some. Looking back at it, he had to admit it was a bit creepy.

That green mist was its form of speaking to them and it did not feel evil like some things they had encountered so for, so he would give it a chance and it seemed Percy would to.

"What is my destiny?" they asked at the same time.

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of them and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards.

Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies, along with Tsunade.

Naruto smirked at the image of Gabe. He had beaten the fool at his own game, he also noticed that Percy looked pissed for a second before calming down, realizing the man was not actually here.

Gabe turned toward them and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._

Tsunade folded and said, _The Prince of the Underworld shall meet his future and learn of the truth._

His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._

The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: _You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend._

Finally, Eddie, the building super, delivered the worst line of all: _And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._

The figures began to dissolve and as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, Percy cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"

The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.

"Well…wasn't that helpful." Naruto's voice startled Percy and the boy could cut the blond's sarcasm with a knife.

"Come one." Percy said shakily, "Let's get out of here, this place is creeping me out.

XXXX

"Well?" Chiron asked.

"She said we would retrieve what was stolen." Percy sighed.

Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say _exactly_?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."

"She . .. she said we would go west and face a god who had turned. We would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said.

Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"

Naruto saw that Percy didn't want to speak about it and he kept quiet as well. That last line was disturbing.

"No," Percy said. "That's about it."

"Well, there was this bit about the Prince of the Underworld meeting his future and learning the truth…but, I am not sure what that means."

"I see," Chiron said as he studied their faces. Just know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Okay," Percy said, anxious to change topics. "So where do we go? Who's this god in the west?"

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

"Somebody else who wants to take over?" The boy guessed.

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that all three of them have now broken."

"Hades/Dad" The boys said at the same time.

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"

"A Fury came after Percy and Naruto," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young men until she was sure of their identity, then tried to kill them. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

"Yes, but—but Hades hates _all_ heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out

Percy is a son of Poseidon...and that Naruto is his son!"

"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."

"Hey." Narutp growled. "I know that Hades is an ass, but don't jump to conclusions! Maybe he is losing control of his monster, that could be cause enough for those creatures to attack me as well."

Chiron stared at Naruto for moment and smiled, "You could be right, but he is still a possibility." Naruto didn't like that but he just accepted it anyway.

"Great, two major gods what to kill me." Percy mumbled.

Naruto just punched Percy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, even if I am not ready yet, I won't let any of my precious people die on me."

"Heh, thanks." Percy replied with a smile.

"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

Grover started trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips. The poor guy needed to complete a quest with Percy or Naruto so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was.

"Hey, if it is dad," Naruto started, "can't we complain to our uncles and then they could take care of it."

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades—and I imagine Poseidon does—they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"

"I just thought they were lazy." Naruto shrugged, "Or just way too busy with their own domain."

"You're saying we're being used." Percy stated, irritable about this information.

"I'm saying it's no accident that your father have claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but they're in desperate situations. They need you."

"Great, the kids got to save our parent's asses." Naruto sighed, and Grover nodded to that and chuckled a bit at that.

"You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?" asked Percy, "and for Naruto as well, being the son of Hades and all." Percy accused.

"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too." Chiron said calmly.

"So let me get this straight," Percy said. "We're supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."

"Check" Chiron stated.

"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Check." Naruto said with a glim in his eye.

"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."

"That's about right." Chiron said.

"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" Grover asked weakly as he gulped down an ace of hearts.

"You don't have to go," Percy told him. "I can't ask that of you.

He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his Tshirt.

"You guys saved my life. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down." That made both of the boys smile, Percy because he wanted another friend with them and Naruto because he was proud of the satyr.

"All the way, G-man." Percy said and then turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."

"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."

"Where?" Naruto asked.

Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the

Underworld is in Los Angeles."

"LA? Sweet!" Naruto cheered.

"Oh," Percy said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane—"

"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?" Percy shook his head in the negative.

"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is

Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in

Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."

"Ok, so what about me?" Naruto asked.

"To be honest, I am not sure" Chiron said thoughtfully, "But to be safe, I would say that you stay on the ground as well.

Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed. Naruto looked up and said, "I forgot about that."

"Okay," Percy said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, we'll travel overland."

"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."

"Gee," Percy said, feigning surprise while smirking to Naruto, who did the same. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

The blond looked behind Chiron to see his fellow blond behind the man. He smirked as he she took off the Yankee's hat and she shimmered into existence for all to see. "I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up." She then turned to Naruto and said, "Besides, we got the ninja ghost here to protect us if we need it. Naruto, there is one thing I am having trouble understanding, can you see me even if I am invisible?"

"Yep, being a kid of Hades, who has the helm of darkness is a plus for me. Since I am guessing that hat of yours uses shadows to make you invisible, I can still see you."

"Oh." pouted Annabeth.

"If you do say so yourself," Percy said with a smirk. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"

Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"

"The four of us will work just fine." Percy said in return, happy to be traveling with people he knows and trusts.

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather. ""No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

"Already done." Naruto commented as seals glowed all over his body and in place of his clothes, was his ANBU gear. "I got everything I need right here."

"You have got to teavh me that." Annabeth said with wide eyes.

"Maybe." Naruto said thoughtfully. He then had a strange thought. "You know, this maybe Jiriaya speaking through me, but….do you think that when the oracle was alive, she was hot?" Everyone just blinked owlishly at the son of Hades. "What?"

"That….is just weird Naruto." Percy replied.

"Ah well, I meet you guys here when you get back, I gotta go tell Thaila that we are going get her dad's toy of mass destruction back for him." With that, Naruto shunshined to the tree.

Annabeth turned back to Percy and asked, "Is he always like that?"

"Yes." Both Percy and Grover said.

**Wow….20 pages….hope you all likes this because me hands won't stop shaking today. Review please. the poll will be up for another chapter so...vote in the reviews again if you wish. I have an idea what i want to do with that. Also, at the end of the fifth book, should Naruto become a deity along with Thalia and Clarisse? If so, what should they be deities of?  
**


	11. Who needed that bus anyway

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 11**

**Ok, his MAIN fear will be losing his friends BUT a running gag fear will be pale old guys. On a angry note, I preordered Lost Hero and STILL have not gotten it! Damn you Borders!**

"Wait wait wait!" Thalia cut in, stopping Naruto's explanation. "You are telling me that you, Annabeth, Grover, and this Percy are going a quest to get my father's lightning bolt….which you call his toy of mass destruction. Why do you call it that again?"

"Well," Naruto replied while scratching the back of his head, "him and everyone is making a big deal about and with the odd dreams me and Percy have been getting, the man is acting like a brat about it."

"You know….I am not surprised." Thalia deadpanned.

"Ah well, looks like we are going the highway to hell." Naruto shrugged.

Thalia burst out laughing. "You do know that made a song with the same title…right?"

"Huh…I am going to have to listen to that" Naruto said thoughtfully. "Well, I better get going…I will see you later Thalia." Naruto said as he start fading way from Limbo.

Thalia had an unsure face at first, but just waked forward and planted a kiss on Naruto's fading cheek, shocking the boy greatly. "Good luck….Naruto." She said as he disappeared. She then sighed. "He probably won't get it."

XXXX

"Ok….that was new." Naruto said as he put a hand to his cheek. He then made his way to where he was meeting his traveling companions in a dazed state, trying to figure out why Thalia had kissed him on the cheek.

Soon, Grover, Annabeth, and Percy arrived in their 'outside the camp' attire. OF course for Percy…it was what has been wearing all week. For annabeth…that was the same too, but with same book on famous classical architecture…go figure. He also wondered if they were going to get caught thanks to that knife she had, I mean their weapons changed into semi-useful items, but hers does not…..oh well.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and anyone could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes. Kind of sad when you think about it.

"Naruto." Annabeth asked, noticing Naruto's state, "What is with the dumb look?"

"I am not sure why, but when I was fading out of Limbo to meet you guys, Thalia just came up and kissed me and told me good luck." Naruto numbly, Percy sighed and smacked his head and Grover chuckled a bit.

_You have got to be kidding me._ Annabeth thought. _A relative of Aphrodite DOESN'T know about love…..by the gods!_ "Eh, don't worry about it too much Naruto, you will find out eventually…..hopefully."

"I guess, so how we getting out of here?" Naruto asked.

"You got me, Chiron just said to come back here." Percy said.

"Correct Percy, now I would like you to meet Argus." Chiron said, coming up to them in his wheelchair form with a surfer dude tailing him.

"Ah, the head of security." Annabeth said respectively. Naruto just quirked an eyebrow, that job was perfect for this guy in Naruto's opinion, for this guy has eyes all over his body.

"He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things." Chiron and Naruto chuckled at the inside joke.

"Hey!" Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes. "Glad I caught you." Naruto noticed that Annabeth was blushing.

_Oh god….don't tell me she is a fangirl like sakura…poor poor deluded girl._ Naruto thought. Of course he didn't have much say in that matter with his old crush for the pink haired girl, but being in this world long enough opened his eyes. Yay for enlightenment!

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told them. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He then handed the shoes to Percy. These….shoes, looked like any normal pair of shoes to him. "Maia!" White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels

Percy was so startled that he dropped the shoes and Naruto said, "Well, you don't see shoes like that everyday."

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." He then had a sad expression on his face. Somehow, Naruto knew he was thinking the other quest he did to get to this came….with Annabeth, Grover and Thalia. He didn't know what do and patted Luke on the shoulder. Luke smiled sadly at him.

"Hey, man," Percy said. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you and Naruto. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

"HA! With Percy's luck, we might just run into a few." Naruto laughed.

"Hey!" Percy pouted.

"Ah don't worry! You got me and my awesome ninja skills!" Naruto boosted. "Besides, you could use the practice." Percy chuckled a bit a that, he knew was not that great with a sword….yet. "I am just the backup, along with Annabeth's brains and Grover's magical flute…powers. God I am never going to get used to that."

"I guess you are right" Percy smiled and then shook Luke's hand. "We'll kill one just for you them man!"

"Good." Luke said as he then shook Naruto and Grover's hands as well and gave Annabeth a hug, who looked ready to pass out.

_Why does that remind me of Hinata?_

After Luke was gone, Percy smirked and to Annabeth, "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" Annabeth then stomped down the other side of the hill they met on, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.

"Oooh, this is going to be fun!" Naruto cackled, scaring Grover. Of course Percy had already gathered the shoes and was hastily following Annabeth, so he didn't hear what Naruto said.

"You scare me sometimes Naruto." Grover replied.

"Really? Does my pranking side really scare you that badly?'

"Yes"

"Oh well, come on Grover. Let's to go to Hell." Naruto said with a carefree attitude.

"You are not making this any better on me." Grover grimaced.

"Sorry about that man." Naruto said as they were at the car.

Once near the car, Percy remembered that it would not be a good idea for him to wear the flying shoes. So…he gave them to Grover. Naruto could not help but laugh a little at that. A flying satyr.

Sad to say, when Grover tried to fly….the results were less than desirable, but it was funny to watch as Grover had not control on where he was going. Poor poor possessed lawn mower, uh I mean Grover.

Chiron rolled up them and said, "Good luck you two. Know I know Naruto has some training, albeit ninja training, but I wish I had more time to train you Percy. I mean, Hercules and Jason and lot more training after all.

"That's okay. I just wish—" Percy said but stopped himself, not wanting to sound selfish and not getting a magical item to help him on his quest.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this." He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to Percy. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap.

"Gee," Percy said. "Thanks."

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one." Chiron stated.

Percy took a better look at the pen and remembered how he and Naruto vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Could this be the same weapon? He took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in his hand. In a few seconds, it had turned into a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. He smiled, somehow, this sword felt right in his hands.

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told him. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide." Percy translated; surprised that he could do that so quickly.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

"What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?" Percy asked, confused as he looked at the deadly looking blade.

"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are _twice_ as vulnerable."

"Good to know." Percy replied and after Chiron explained more about the blade, like he could not lose it and how to turn it back, he joined the others in the car. They turned back to see that Chiron was now under Thalia's tree, shooting of an arrow, which mean he was just sending them off.

Naruto decided to interrupt the silence. "So…you got your weapon huh?"

"Yeah, it is called Riptide." Percy smiled.

"What are your blades called Naruto?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, the one that looks like a fox is called Fear and the one that looks like a black dragon is called Destruction." He said nonchalantly.

"Ok...why?" Grover asked nervously.

"Hell if I know, I just got the feeling that they were called that." Naruto shrugged.

"Oh joy." Grover said.

XXXX

Argus drove them out of the countryside and into western Long Island. For Naruto and Percy, it felt weird to be out on the highway again. They did spend two weeks in the camp after all. Naruto caught Percy looking at all the Mcdonald's and other places like that on their way. He could not blame the kid, the camp was like a renaissance fair after all. Percy was just regaining his grip on reality.

"So far so good,"Percy told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

She gave him an annoyed look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me." He mumbled.

"Hey, can't we all get along?" Naruto interrupted, earning annoyed looks.

"Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals." Annabeth replied.

"Why?" Percy asked dumbly.

Annabeth sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives." replied Percy.

"Oh, forget it."

"Now, if she'd invented pizza—_that _I could understand."

"I said, forget it!"

Naruto smirked. "You know, that just what our parents did. I don't understand why certain people _have_ to hate each other for that reason alone. If everyone believed that, everyone would hate me because of all the crap my dad did. Just like in Konoha." Naruto said, the last part softly to himself, but they heard it. Percy knew what Naruto was talking about but the others didn'y and they didn't want to upset him, so they didn't ask. However, Annabeth considered Naruto's words but kept quiet.

Traffic slowed them down in Queens. By the time they got into Manhattan it was sunset and was starting to rain. Argus dropped them at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from Percy's mom and Gabe's apartment. Naruto noticed out of the corner of his eye, that there was a soggy fly with Percy's face on it. What was odd though was that Percy ripped it down quickly before the other two could see it. Odd.

Argus unloaded their bags, made sure they got the bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch them as he pulled out of the parking lot. Naruto noticed that Percy was looking off into the distance, probably thinking about his home.

Naruto slapped his back and said, "Don't worry man, we'll get your mom back."

"I know." Percy said with a sad smile.

Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction Percy was looking.

"You want to know why she married him, Percy?"

"Huh? Where you reading mind like Naruto?"

"Just your emotions." Grover shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"

"That ability, is pretty useful." Naruto smirked.

"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told him "You caledl him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura…. Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."

"Thanks," Percy deadpanned. "Where's the nearest shower?"

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."

"Ugh, that still has to suck though. Just walking in there, made me want to gag." Naruto replied and when he got odd looks he said, "Heightened senses for the Kyuubi." They nodded after that and Percy stared a little more into the distance until they had to move on.

They got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. Naruto was the same, but he somehow got it to land on his nose!

The game ended when Perct tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, their Hacky Sack disappeared—core, stem, and all. Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but the other three were too busy on the ground, laughing. Though, Naruto did wonder HOW Grover managed to do that.

Finally the bus came. As they were standing in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy—enchiladas.

"What is it?" Percy asked, curious.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

As they boarded, Percy was get nervous because his friends were acting differently. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh, Grover kept looking everywhere, and Naruto had a serious face on…..yea, something was up.

As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand on Percy's knee. "Percy."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she

tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and Percy gained a freaked out face. It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face. Percy silently whimpered and scrunched down in his seat.

Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers. They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and they headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," Percy said, trying to keep his voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"Percy, these are the right hand …uh… grannies of my dad, they probably don't stay down for long. Besides, they feel more powerful than at the museum."

"Yeah and I said if you're _lucky_," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not, and if Naruto is right, they must be at full power"

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "_Di immortales_!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters

from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" she suggested, looking to the back, only to find none.

Naruto growled, "I could always make one."

"No, we don't need to cause a scene and bring attention to ourselves." Annabeth replied,

"Aw…and I wanted to have some fun." Naruto hung his head in defeat.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," Percy said. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"

She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof ... ?"

They entered the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle.

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?"

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you

can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys—"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"Yeah, and if they come after me…well they won't know what hit them." Naruto said. "Now go!"

"I can't just leave you."

"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"

With trembling hands, Percy put on the cap and started up the aisle. Naruto watched his friend intently, hoping Annabeth's plan would work. Percy got ten rows up before he had to dodge into an empty seat as to not run into them. Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at Percy. His heart started pounding like crazy and Naruto fists clenched.

Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.

Naruto somewhat relaxed after that and Percy quickly made his way to the front of the bus. He was about to press the emergency stop button when he heard a hideous wailing from the back row.

The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same, which couldn't get any uglier if you asked anyone, but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surrounded Grover, Naruto, and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw _something_, all right.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"

"Yeah, so can't we all get along?" Naruto asked with a small smile. The Furies raised their whips. One of them snapped it where Naruto's head would have been if he did not dodge.. "Yikes! I guess not" He replied as he took out Fear, Annabeth drew her bronze knife, and Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

Percy then did something so stupid that should be posted as the ADHD poster child. He grabbed the wheel of the bus and it slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind them.

The bus careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters were tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

Somehow the driver found an exit. The bus shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to the left, the

Hudson River to the right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river!

Percy got another great idea and slammed on the emergency. The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. Percy stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.

The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans, while Naruto cut up the whips there were aim at him.

"Don't think just because you are the son of the Master, we will go easy one you boy!" one of the old crones lashed out.

"Why would I expect that?" Naruto commented while smirking as he sliced up the whip that came for him, infuriating the Fury even more.

"Hey!" Percy yelled, taking off the hat and revealing himself. The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at the Son of Poseidon, and he instantly regretted it, which was easily seen thanks to his freaked out expression. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, like she was about to give him another failed paper. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward him like huge nasty lizards.

"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," Percy told her. Naruto heard him and said.

"Oh? That's news to me."

Mrs Dodds growl and yelled, "Stay out of this!"

Naruto grumbled something in audible, help Annabeth and Grover sneak up behind the creepy looking grannies. Percy had, by this point, uncapped the pen and it was not the sword that helped kill the old bag.

The Furies hesitated.

Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again. "Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," Percy replied.

"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried. Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around his sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at him.

Percy grimaced at the pain that whip was causing, but he regain some composure to strike back. He used the hilt of his to knock away the fury on the left, but noticed that he would not have enough time to strike the one the right because she was coming in to fast! That was when Naruto suddenly appeared and kicked the hag away; shocking the leader of the Furies so bad that she loosened her grip on Percy. He took that opportunity to get free.

Mrs Dodds glared at Naruto and said, "Stay out of this! We were ordered NOT to kill you but that just gives up free range on what we could do to you!"

Naruto had a deadpanned expression on his face at that. "Sorry, but I like younger girls."

This made them even more mad than they were….which probably was not a good thing to do, because the one on the right lunged at him, but he smirked and spun on his heel to stab her in the neck, 'killing' her instantly.

Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands. "Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

The Fury that Percy had hit before came back in full force and tried to slice him with her claws but he swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.

Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

"Hey, let them try, we can beat anything you throw at us." Naruto said happily.

"Braccas meas vescimini!" Percy yelled, which oddly meant, 'eat my pants.'

"Fools….you will die!" the fury yelled.

Thunder shook the bus and Naruto smelled gas.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled. "Now!"

They rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped their photograph before they could put away their weapons.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our—"

**BOOOOM!**

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told them that Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.

"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

They plunged into the nearby woods as the rain started to fall; the flaming bus behind them and nothing but darkness ahead of them. Naruto smirked and looked at Annabeth while running. "So, what was that about not causing a scene and having all the attention on us?"

"Oh shut it!" her rang throughout the forest.

**The end of that chapter. I started this a few days ago because of all the damn midterms….so yeah, I now have the Lost hero book…yay. Anyway, the god poll I will be posting in every story till the 5****th**** one….so it will be open for a long time.**

**Review**


	12. Joke's on Medusa!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 12**

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In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a demi-god, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day or just trying to rid the world of you.

That was what was going through Naruto's mind as he walked along side Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Currently, they were walking along the Jersey riverbank, with the glow of New York City behind them.

Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

"Come on! The farther away we get, the better." Annabeth said, still looking shaken.

"All our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine. Besides, we also had Naruto."

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."

"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

"OK! ENOUGH!" Naruto growled out. By the end of the arguing, Naruto's eye was twitching. "I got my money so I got enough for the trip."

"Oh right." Percy said thoughtly.

Annabeth just looked lost and said, "What do you mean?"

"Oh Naruto has a lot of money thanks to his old world." Grover replied, suddenly remembering as well.

"Oh…well that is good." Annabeth said softly.

After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to Percy. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

"We're a team, right?" Percy asked with a smile.

She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

"Technically, this is a double quest for both me and Naruto." Percy replied. "Besides, Naruto would never let me die….just like back in the bus."

"Got that right!" Naruto smirked. "Of course I would not let you two die either." He said, pointing to Grover and Annabeth, who looked grateful.

"Then I guess it is a good thing that we have two children on the Big Three on our side." Annabeth smiled.

"Yeah, especially one that is the son of the Lord of the Dead." Grover shakily said as the storm finally subsided, leaving them in total darkness as they drifted back into silence once….well until Percy broke it.

"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" He asked Annabeth.

"No ... only short field trips. My dad—"

"The history professor." interrupted Percy.

"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."

"You're pretty good with that knife,"

"You think so?"

"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." Percy replied.

"You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you ... Something funny back on the bus ..."

She didn't get to say much about it because a few second before, Naruto was silently chuckling at the couple in front of him and Grover. Said satyr glanced at the blond nervously and brought out his reed pipes and gave an experimental blow and the sound of a tortured owl came out.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

"Well, let's just hope you know how to play that. I don't want my ears bleeding." Naruto growled as he got the full blast of the screeching sound.

"Oh don't Naruto, I can play just fine." Grover smiled and puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff, making Naruto's eye twitch.

Percy was to bust listening to Grover playing on his piped that he never noticed a tree in front of him in the darkness and smacked right into it, making laugh out loud. He mark infrared vision off his list of possible super powers that he could have. Suddenly, he remembered that Naruto had good night vision. "Hey! You're the one with the night vision here, why didn't you warn me!"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly, "Sorry, I was too busy listen to the pop star over here." He said, making Annabeth giggle a bit.

After a about a mile or so of listen to Percy curse as he bumped into things and Naruto chuckling to himself, they saw a neon sign in the distance. Naruto sniffed and asked, "Please tell you guys smell that too."

"If you are smelling fast food like it am, then yes. Yes I do." Percy replied. "I really need a double cheese burger right about now."

Finally, they came upon a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

"A rest stop!" Grover said happily.

"With food!" Naruto commented with joy.

Sure it was not a true fast food place; it was one of those restaurants you see on the open road. You know, some locally own place. It looked like it also sold those lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for normal demi gods to read, because if there's anything worse for their dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English. Naruto growled at that. He could normal English just fine, but throw in that cursive crap and he just gets confused.

To Percy and Annabeth, it looked it this: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

To Naruto, it looked like some kid's drawing.

"What the heck does that say?" asked Percy.

"I don't know." Both Naruto and Annabeth said at the same time.

Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

"Hmm…I bet Ino could give them a few tips." Naruto commented as he observed the place a little more. Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken, making Naruto's eye twitch.

Percy quickly crossed the street, following the smell of food; the others quickly following.

"Hey ..." Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," she agreed.

"Oh I hope that serve Ramen!" Naruto smirked.

"Are you three crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." Of he was ignored in favor of filling their stomachs.

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

They stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."

"BOO!" Naruto said from right behind the goat boy, making him jump.

"AH! Don't do that!"

"Sorry Grover, but that was the perfect moment. Besides, they are just statues!" Naruto said with a chuckle. "Besides, whatever meat comes your way…I'll eat it!"

"Gee thanks" Grover deadpanned.

Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of them was a tall Middle Eastern woman because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all anyone could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so they imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say.

"We're orphans," Percy said, hoping Naruto would not be too mad at him for that.

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"Oh yeah! We are orphans lady" Naruto jumped in. "You know people who live off the streets, people who must move through the trash just to get a bit to eat!" He said with fake tears, making his three companions sweatdrop. "But, when in a group…it eases the pain!"

_What….did you take theater Naruto? _"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said, a little put off by Naruto dramatic speech. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area." They smiled and thanked her and went in.

Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?"

"Always have a strategy, right?"

"Your head is full of kelp."

"We excuse me! I got that idea by watching Mr. Drama over here."

"And my flair for drama made you think of a circus…I am hurt!" Naruto fake pouted.

"Oh shut it. It worked right?" Percy asked annoyed, Naruto just smirked.

The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. Normally, they would not be going to some strange place in the middle of nowhere but they were hungry and tired and this place was just convenient.

That was when Naruto felt weird. The smell from those cooking burgers was intoxicating and they seemed to be dulling his senses a bit. He also noticed Grover was whimpering a lot now and add in the fact that he heard the door lock behind him was NOT a good thing. So for now, he would just play along….something was defiantly going on here.

As soon as they go to the back of the place, they noticed a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Awesome," Percy said.

"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

Aunty Em smiled and said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.

Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly. Percy just shrugged it off, but Naruto was not suspicious. _Ok…something is going on here…BUT WHAT? This lady is giving me a bad vibe….like those times when some of the villagers back would be nice and then try and kill me. I so hope it is not that._

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."

_Ok my memory is not that bad…we never even introduced ourselves!_ Naruto thought quickly.

Their hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before they knew it, she'd brought them plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries. In little time at all they started chowing down. Naruti only ate because he didn't smell anything thing wrong with them.

Naruto gulped down his food with ease. It may not have been ramen but this was just as good at the moment. He noticed that Percy was halfway through his burger before he realized he need to actually breath while Annabeth just slurped down her shake.

Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat. "What's that hissing noise?" he asked. Percy and Annabeth looked around but shrugged, not hearing anything. Naruto, however, shivered. It was ALWAYS snakes!

"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins. For my ears."

"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."

Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched the four children eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at you when you couldn't see her face; it was boring very creepy in Naruto's opinion….Orochimaru creepy. Percy decided to be nice and make some small talk, even though the full stomach was making him a bit sleepy.

"So, you sell gnomes," Percy said.

_Really Percy….you asked her that! God those thing creep me out!_ Naruto thought annoyed.

"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?"

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

_I bet._ Naruto thought as he saw Percy suddenly turn around, like he thought he was being watched, only to find the statue of a young girl with an eater basket looking at him. What was weird though was the look of terror in the face. That is when Naruto felt strange. He looked more closely and saw a ghost like figure behind the statue! The girl was silently trying to tell them to get out of there before it was too late. _"Oh this is so not good!_

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked, a little creeped out

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that you couldn't help feeling sorry for her, but that also made her more dangerous.

Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"

"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."

"_SHIT SHIT SHIT! _Naruto thought frantically._ "THIS HAS GOT TO BE MEDUSA!_ Hethen saw Percy getting really sleepy now and his and Annabeth's eyes met and they both knew they were in trouble. He gave her a barely noticeable nodded.

"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking him to get his attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting." Naruto notice that Grover was nervously eating the wax paper from the trays, but either this lady didn't se it or already knew what her was. Naruto's guess was on the latter.

"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.

"We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"

"Heh, and he will be pissed that the main actor won't be there!" Naruto said, getting up as well, but Percy seemed reluctant to get up and leave.

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."

Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"

"Sure we can," Percy said, a little irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed them for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

"Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."

Annabeth reluctantly allowed this and they followed the lady to the front door, into the garden of statues. Aunty Em directed them to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side and the blond one behind the girl since he is a bit taller."

"Not much light for a photo," Percy remarked.

"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.

Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"

Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."

"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear."

She still had no camera in her hands.

"Percy—" Annabeth said. The boy wanted to listen, but for some reason, the sleepy feeling was coming back again.

"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."

"Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted.

"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.

"WAIT!" Naruto interrupted, getting all the attention on him. "How about I get a picture of just me! After all, I am the star of the show and you can even get an autograph!"

The woman smiled behind her veil. If that is what you wish Naruto. If you three would please move away, I will get to you later." This was odd, why was she listening to this boy? She wanted all four of them now!

As the three moved, Annabeth looked at Naruto worriedly before she saw him wink at her. She widened her eyes. She hoped Naruto was not thinking was she was thinking he was going to do! The kind lady interrupted her line of thought though. "So please give me a pose and a big smile!"

Naruto smirked as he got into his fighting stance and made a cross seal over his chest and gave a fox smile. The lady thought nothing of it and removed the veil, making Annabeth and Grover look away while Percy pushed down by the blond girl, who then disappeared thanks to her hat. Grover just ran for all he was worth.

Percy looked around from his position on the floor and saw Naruto, only he was incased in stone. That made him fully awake and freaked out now. He didn't want to be stoned like his friend!

"Sucks to be a shadow clone right now!" Naruto's voice echoed out to them with cheer as the statue poofed away.

Medusa, as they now knew what to really call her, growled. "So you are the son of Hades! I will enjoy killing you, but tell me how you knew it was me!"

"Heh, that girl's statue. I saw her soul and she was not happy." came Naruto's voice, but it was serious now.

"Aw is the son of Death no happy? I thought you would be but I guess the rumors are true….you are so not like your siblings."

"Thanks, I take pride in that!"

Medusa was getting annoyed now, so she turned her attention to Percy and smiled, not that he would dare to look up.

Throughout the exchange, Percy was freaking out. He now heard the soft hissing of the snakes on her head, he also saw that her heads had turned into gnarly claws. _Great, another old lady that wants to kill me!_

"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," her voice told him soothingly.. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."

He fought the urge to obey. Instead he looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens— a gazing ball. He could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents. _Aunty Em….Aunty M! Ugh, how could I have been so stupid!_

"Percy…use the lessons Chiron taught us back in school, use your brain on this one!"

"Oh will you shut up!" Medusa yelled.

"Make me! In fact would you please just come after me instead of my friend?" Naruto asked.

The snake lady felt an odd pull on her heart when he said that. "Oh I would love…" She then regained herself. "So it is true! I did not want to believe it but you also have some Aphrodite's blood in you. I will not let you charmspeak me!"

"Ah man….wait what? Nevermind. Percy, looks like you are on your own on this, so I am going to find the others."

Percy was freaking out now. Naruto couldn't help him and his other friends are to scared to help him out of this mess. He needed to think of a way to somehow beat her before she turns him to stone! _Come on! Think!_ _Wait….the guy who I was named after….he beat her! I just can't look at her….this is so hard!_

"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited him to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother, though what she was a grandma of, he did not know. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."

"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"

"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."

"You Aunty Em…you gotta lot of rage for an old hag! Of course you wouldn't be here if you didn't get jiggy with Percy's dad and in Annabeth's mom's temple of all things. So, your fault!"

"I told you to shut up you annoying pest!" Medusa spat out. "I will enjoy doing the same to your statue as well!"

"No." Percy said firmly as he tried to get on his legs.

"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."

"Percy!" Grover's voice was heard behind him, but it was coupled with a buzzing sound. "Duck!"

The son of Poseidon turned, and there the flying satyr was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.

"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"

That finally jolted Percy into action. Knowing Grover, he was sure the goat boy would miss Medusa and nail him, so he quickly dove to the side.

**Thwack!**

"You miserable satyr," Medusa roared with rage. "I'll add you to my collection!"

"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back as Percy scrambled into the maze of statues and Grover came in for another hit.

**Ker-whack!**

"Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.

While Percy was regaining, Annabeth appeared next to him with her cap off, "Percy!"

Poor Percy cleared a gnome in fright. "Jeez! Don't do that!"

"Ah get over it….you should be used to it by now." Naruto said as he appeared next to him as well, further scaring the boy.

"Why didn't you help me!"

"I am not going to fight all your battle for you. This one is all yours since it is an old family thing." replied Naruto as he casually leaned next to a statue.

"You have to cut her head off." supplied Annabeth.

"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."

"Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You—you've got a chance, and like Naruto said, this is your battle."

"What? I can't—"

"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?" She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster.

Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better." She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—"

"Would you speak English?"

"I am!" She tossed him the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."

"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above them. "I think she's unconscious!"

"Roooaaarrr!"

"Ok…maybe not." Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.

"Hurry," Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash." She then put the cap back on and disappeared.

Naruto smirked and said, "Well…good luck man!" He then jumped away.

Scowling, Percy took out his pen and uncapped it, making it turn into his bronze sword, Riptide. He slowly followed the hissing sound of the snakes on her head, while keeping his eyes locked on the globe. Finally, he was able to see her reflection in the ball.

Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!"

Medusa was about to lunge at him when Percy suddenly yelled, "Hey!" Her attention was on him now so he was able to catch a glimpse of Naruto saving Grover's ass.

Percy slowly made his away over to the snake hag, but she seemed to expect him to do that. He could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really _that_ ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse then she actually looks.

"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."

Percy hesitated, fascinated by the face he saw reflected in the glass—the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making his arms go weak.

From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"

Medusa cackled. "Too late." She then lunged at the boy with her large talons and in his panic, he swung his sword for all he was worth. He heard a sickening _shlock!_, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating.

Something fell to the ground next to his foot. It took all of Percy's willpower not to look. He could feel warm ooze soaking into his sock, little dying snake heads tugging at the shoelaces. Not a good feeling.

"Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were still tightly closed, but Percy guessed he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck."

Annabeth came up next to him, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move." Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.

"Nice job!" Naruto suddenly appeared between the three of them rattling their nervous even more.

"AH!" they yelled as they fell on the floor.

Annabeth got up and smacked the back on Naruto's head while asking Percy in a shaking voice, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Percy replied, but he felt like he want to upchuck the cheese burger he ate before."Why didn't ...why didn't the head evaporate?"

"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

Grover groaned from his position next to Naruto. He would never get used to the speed Naruto traveled at. Though, the big welt on his forehead from the snake hag wasn't helping any. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.

"Wow, talk about getting your shoes knocked off." commented Naruto.

"The Red Baron," Percy said to Grover. "Good job, man."

He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear or going at the mind numbing speeds Naruto goes at? Not fun." He said as he snatched his shoes out of the air, while Percy recapped his sword and put it away. They quickly made their way back into the warehouse, hope that they might find something of use.

Thankfully, they found some plastic bag where they double wrapped Medusa's head in it. After that they plopped it on the table where they ate before, three of them to exhausted to doing anything else. Naruto then got an idea. "Hey, Percy."

"Yeah?"

"I am going to put that in a scroll for later for you. All you have to do is put some blood on the seal and you'll get the headless snake back."

"Uhh…no thanks Naruto, I am not taking this with me." Percy said shakily, Naruto just shrugged.

"So we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Percy then asked Annabeth after a few seconds.

Annabeth flashed him an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."

"Man, why are all snake like people pedophiles!' Naruto growled and then said, "Percy, didn't you listen to what I was saying to Medusa?"

"Not really, only bits and pieces since I was freaking out!" Percy said, a little irritated, "And how is this my fault!" He rounded on Annabeth.

Annabeth tried to imitate Percy's voice, but it was not that good. "'It's just a photo, Annabeth.

What's the harm? Naruto almost got stoned!'"

"Forget it," Percy said. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable."

"You're—"

"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"

Percy seemed to be in thought for a moment before he said, "I'll be back."

"Percy," Annabeth called after him. "What are you—" Then he was gone as he rounded a corner. Annabeth just threw up her hands and walked off in another direction, taking a look around.

It was only Grover and Naruto left. Naruto started chuckling to himself. "What is so funny?"

"I may be clueless to love directed at me, but you got to admit that they might have a thing for each other."

Grover looked at the blond like he was nuts. "They are only on this quest together because Percy had a quest and Annabeth wanted to get out of the camp for a while. Besides, their parents hate each other!"

"So. How does that dictate them, they are their own persons. They have a right to judge themselves." Naruto paused and smiled. "Besides, they might just be acting that they don't like each other."

"Speaking of acting…you did a pretty good job on that. You had me going there, heck you even scared me when you were going to get the 'picture'.

"Man, you guys keep forgetting about my shadow clone jutsu."

"Well I guess I am not used to it yet…I mean it is not every day a demi-god has that power."

"Well, that is a good thing then. People will never know what to expect! You'll be like, POOF! Where did he go! POOF! Where did he go! POOF! Where did he go!" Naruto smirked as he poofed to a different seat of the table with each Poof!, making Grover shake his head.

"You really need to lay off the Disney movies." Grover replied.

Before Naruto could retort, Percy was back with box and a delivery slip. It read:

_The Gods_

_Mount Olympus_

_600th Floor,_

_Empire State Building_

_New York, NY_

_With best wishes,_

_PERCY JACKSON_

"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."

"Who cares! That is one of the best pranks if have very seen other than me painting the Hokage Monument!" Naruto smirked because as soon as he was done talking, the package disappeared with a pop!

"I am impertinent," Percy said. He looked at Annabeth, who had just gotten back, and dared her to criticize him. She didn't. She seem resigned to the fact he like to piss of the gods.

"Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."

"Yeah, let get back on the open road!" Naruto cheered, a little too happy.

"Naruto, please don't sing that song." Grover begged.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Hope you all like it, Review please and please be on the lookout for my Halloween Special. Also, my rewrite of Foxfire is coming out soon too!  
**


	13. It's a camp out!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 13**

**I have had a great weekend! After watching all of Toradora! I didn't feel like reading anything so I am completing another chapter! You know, that show could be anime version of How I Met Your Mother. Anyone know if they made more? Also, Fooly Cooly is insane!**

"Alright, this probably not the best place to camp out, but it will have to do." Naruto grumbled as they set up camp in a clearing where a rave probably went off. The clearing was full of trash!

The camp was not much, just blankets and other items they took from Medusa's place. They didn't bother set up a fire to warm up their damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day, they didn't to attract anything else.

"Alright, since this is like a mission back home, we will be sleeping in shifts, so who is going to take the first watch?"

"Watch?" asked Percy.

"In case anymore monsters come after us, that way we won't be surpised." Naruto explained.

"Ok then, I will take the first watch." Percy replied.

"Fine by me." Annabeth grumpily said while taking a blanket and covering up. A few minutes later, they heard her snoring.

"Wow…that was fast." Naruto blinked.

"Well, we did have a rough day." Grover commented.

"Rough for you guys but yeah, I agree." Naruto said. That was when the two noticed that Percy was already on watch. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky, while Naruto just leaned against the tree with his eyes closed.

"Go ahead and sleep," Percy told them. "I'll wake you if there's trouble."

"Not tired" Naruto replied whiel the goat man looked down at the ground, littered with trash.

"It makes me sad you guys."

"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?" asked the water boy.

"No. This makes me sad." He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist."

He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast ... ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan."

"Pam, Like the cooking spray?"

"HA!" Naruto laughed. "That is a good one but you should know who he is talking about." Naruto paused and after a few seconds of not getting a response he sighed and said, "Pan, God of the Wild Places."

"Yeah him, that is why I need to get a Searcher's License. That way, I will be able to search for him, like my dad and Uncle Ferdinand."

"Yeah, what happened to him. I slept during that lecture. All I know is that he was the God of Wild Places." Naruto confessed while scratching the bad of his head.

"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he told them. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."

"Eh…who knows, you might find the guy. And if he really is dead, he might be in the Underworld!" Naruto guessed.

"I hope he is no there."

"So…what will happen if you don't find Pan?" Percy asked.

"You die like my Father and Uncle. Never to be seen again." Grover explained. "They knew the risks. Hopefully, I will be the first to find him in two thousand years" They fell silent after that until Naruto looked at the trash and growled.

"You know Grover, I can't help you with the sky since that is human pollution, but I would be able to get rid of this trash. Nothing a little Hellfire can't fix!" He said as a ball of black fire appeared in his hand.

"What about Annabeth, she is in the middle of it all at the moment." Percy obsevered, making Naruto freeze.

"Ok, so we can get rid of it tomorrow." Naruto shrugged and put out the fire. He then smirked. "Good to know you care about her, Percy."

Said demi-god spurted and tried making an excuse. When he couldn't, they all just laughed. Grover then said, "Thanks though Naruto. I at least know there are some humans who still in the old ways."

"Eh, I am just old fashion. I do come from a world that is clean like that. Well….there is the occasional blood that the bathes the trees every now and then, but other than that it is clean." Naruto said the last part thoughtfully, making his two friends sweardrop.

"Anyway," Percy said, trying to change the subject. "How are we going to get into the Underworld? I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"

"I don't know." But while you and Naruto where ahead of us, Annabeth said-"

"Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out." Percy rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me..." Grover's voice faltered.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "Forgave you for what?"

Naruto looked up at Grover as he was suddenly interested in his pipes. He sighed, "Thalia?"

"Thalia." The satyr confirmed. "That was my first job. I found Thalia and then Luke, and then we all found Annabeth. But it ended in a horrible failure." Grover said and it looked like he had tears in his eyes. "But as I was saying, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."

"Well, duh. Me and Naruto are getting blamed for stealing a thunderbolt that Hades took."

"That's not what I mean," Grover said. "The Fur—The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy ... why did she wait so long to try to kill you two? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been."

"They seemed plenty aggressive to me." Percy replied.

"Heh, they also said they would not go easy on me even though I am their master's son." Naruto said.

Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"

"Asking about one of us," Percy asked.

"Maybe ... but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said 'Where is it?' They seemed to be asking about an object."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, especially if dad has the bolt. I am getting the feeling that he doesn't." Naruto replied.

"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt..." Grover said, looking at the boys, hoping they would have the answer.

"Well, we might as well go there. He might have it and the old bats might not even know." Naruto said with crossed arms.

They nodded and Percy sighed. "Guys, I have not been straight with you. I really don't care about the lightning bolt. I am going to the Underworld so I can get my mom back."

"I know." Grover said.

"I figured as much." Naruto said.

"Are you sure that is not the only reason you are going?" Grover asked.

"I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him. Besides, we go there, Naruto will meet his dad."

Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not

as brave as you. I am not as strong as Naruto. But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done."

"Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks." Percy said a bit irritated.

Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever."

"Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money, well except for whatever Naruto has got, and no way west."

Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about that problem. "How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."

"But…" Percy tried to argue but Grover just started playing on his pipe. It was a Mozart melody, soft and sweet. He grumbled a bit and made his way where the blankets were, next to Annabeth.

As he passed Naruto, the blond spoke. "Thanks Percy."

"It is no problem. You've always helped me, now it is my turn." The dark haired boy said before walking away and then falling asleep soon afterwards.

Naruto looked up and Grover and said, "Hey, just walk me up when you get tired. Those two need the rest." Grover just nodded and continues playing. Naruto then sat down next to the tree and looked up at the night sky. "Hey, mom." Naruto whispered, If you can hear me, please watch over us. I think they have enough to deal with today." He closed his and was soon asleep, never saw Grover's grateful look.

XXXX

In their dreams, Naruto notice he was near a black pit and he next to Percy. For some reason, he was very much aware of his self in these odd dreams. "What have you got for us this time?" Naruto muttered.

The duo looked around before they saw gray mist creatures churned all around them, whispering rags of smoke that they somehow knew were the spirits of the dead. Well, Naruto knew, percy just guessed.

Those creatures tugged on their clothes, they wanted to resist but they felt a pull from the pit of darkness. Naruto looked down and knew it was bottomless. _So, that is where Gramps 'O' Bits is sealed….funny._ He thought.

_The little hero_es, an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. _Too weak, too young, but perhaps one of you will do._

The voice felt ancient—cold and heavy. It wrapped around them like sheets of lead.

_They have misled you, _it said. _Barter with me. I will give you what you want._

_Heh, don't count on it old man. _Naruto thought with a grimace.

A shimmering image hovered over the void: Percy's mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at Percy, pleading: Go! Naruto noticed Percy try and cry out, but nothing came out. The the image disappeared to reveal another woman. She had long flowing red hair that Naruto somehow recognized as his demi-god mother's. He eyes widened at that.

The image then disappeared as a cold laughter echoed from the chasm. An invisible force pulled at them again, like it would drag them into the pit, if that did not hold their ground. _Help me rise, you two. _The voice became hungrier. _Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!_

The spirits of the dead whispered around them, _No! Wake!_

That invisible force pulled once more, and both boys realized that it was using them to pull itself out of the pit.

_Good, _it murmured. _Good._

_Wake! _the dead whispered. _Wake!_

Naruto felt shaking and noticed that Percy's form began to disappear. "You lose….Gramps 'o' Bits." He heard a growl before he awoke to find that it was daylight out.

"Well, the zombie brothers live." came Annabeth's voice."

"Hey, I thought I told Grover to wake me up."

"Whatever, he woke me up instead, said you needed some rest as well."

"I see." Naruto sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Percy trembling a bit.

"How long was I asleep?" the water boy asked.

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." She replied while tossing Percy a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips and to Naruto, she tossed him a bag of sour cream and onion chip from Aunti Em's place. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

Percy looked like he had trouble focusing his eyes but when he saw it, he and Naruto just blinked. Grover was sitting cross legged with a dirty pink poodle in his arms. Percy had trouble believing this. The poodle yapped at the water boy suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."

"Are you ... talking to that thing?" Percy asked dumbly and it growled at him.

"This _thing_," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?" Percy asked.

"Considering he IS part animal, I would say that would be YES!" Naruto said, irritated already this early in the morning.

"Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy and the other one is Naruto." Grover said while Percy looked to Annabeth, thinking she would crack up at any second, but she looked dead serious.

"Nice to meet you." Naruto yawned.

The poodle barked once again, making Grover chuckle. "Yes, I do suppose he smells like a fox."

Naruto froze and stared at the dog. "I _still_ have the scent of the fox on me?" The dog just nodded. "Aiya! It will never end! I am still tormented by the Kyuubi!"

Grover chuckled and said, "Aw don't worry about that. Besides, she said that she likes that smell."

Naruto nervously chuckled. "I don't know if I should be happy about that or worried that a dog like that smell."

"You guys can't be serious!" Percy said with annoyance. "Why are we greeting him? I am not saying hello!"

"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

Percy relented and mumbled, "Hello, Gladiola."

"There, not that bad now is it? I mean, you talk to Gamakichi." Naruto smirked.

"But…he is literally a talking frog!" Percy defended himself.

"Yeah and if the animals in this world could talk, people would be thrilled." Naruto commented, shutting up Percy and making Annabeth giggle.

Grover then explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"He read the signs," Grover deadpanned. "Duh."

"Of course," Percy said, while rolling his eyes "Silly me."

"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"And we don't want to use my money?" Naruto asked, stupefied.

"We will use that for an emergency." Annabeth explained, "Besides, you probably worked hard for that money."

"Alright." Naruto said exasperatedly.

Percy looked worried for a second, "Not another bus."

"No," Annabeth agreed. She pointed downhill, toward train tracks they hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

"Alright then, let's get this guy back to his owner." Naruto said then then froze, worrying the others.

"What is it Naruto?" Annabeth asked.

Naruto looked at the poodle with worried eyes, "This is just like the Tora mission! I just hope his owner doesn't treat him like _she_ does." He replied, making Grover and Percy pale. Annabeth was just confused.

XXXX

After explaining to Annabeth about the Tora mission and getting the poodle back to its owner, they were at the train station. Thankfully, the poodle's owner was not crazy like the Fire Lord's wife, much to everyone's relief.

When they boarded and the train started moving, they relaxed, hoping the monster would not attack. Percy noticed that Naruto was writing something down in a note pad that he had seen the blond write into at camp every now and then. "Um…what are you writing down Naruto?"

"Future weapons for my friends." Naruto replied, getting Annabeth's and Grover's attention. He looked up at them and smiled. It seemed that they wanted to know. "Right. Well Percy, you will be getting a smaller version of Zabuza's blade so that you can lift it and you don't have to rely just on Riptide. Same goes for you Annabeth, I will be making you a new dagger that uses the power of shadows like your cap."

The two blinked and smiled at that. "So what about me?" Grover asked.

"The Gale Boomerang. I got that off of a video game and wish to try and make it in real life. I mean, you can't rely on just your pipes forever." He said, showing them his designs.

"What are these other weapons Naruto?" asked Percy.

"I am rebuilding the Rajin for Thalia for when I am able to get her out. A blade made of lightning would suit her." He said, making Annabeth and Grover look sadly at him, but they didn't say anything to him. "Next is an idea for the God of War games. This weapon will be for Clarisse. It will either be the Spear of Destiny or the Blades of Chaos. Now for Silena, I was thinking about a whip, but I am not sure which element I want in it. Not really sure about Charles Beckendorf, but I might make a modern version of Thor's Hammer for him since he is the one who is helping me."

"Ok, so what about this one, the big sword?" Percy asked, pointing to that picture.

"Ah, another one from the God of War game. This one is for me. The Blade of Olypmus, but…it will not be that blade, I am just not sure what to infuse with it or call it for that matter."

"Wow, when are you going to make these?" Annabeth asked with a wide smile.

"Oh, probably after this quest, but the last blade won't be done for some time." Naruto replied.

"Oh." Annabeth said and left it at that.

_A few hours later…_

Annabeth and Grover had fallen asleep and the last two were staring out the window of the train. Naruto saw that Percy was falling asleep and decided to talk to him. "Percy, you are not alone in the those weird dreams. I am in that two."

"W-what?"

"I think they are to warn us." Naruto said with a serious face. Percy seemed to get it and nodded. "I think it may be a big three thing, but we have a strange connection in these dreams."

"Heh, I just hope it doesn't kill us." Percy said before falling asleep.

Naruto looked out the window and said, "What are you trying to tell us….Oneroi"

**Well, there you go, another chapter done. Oneroi…try and guess who he is.**


	14. I'm Free Falling!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 14**

For the next two days, they road on the train and the good thing was that they had not run into any monsters. Naruto could tell his friends, mostly Percy, were still on edge, so he acted like nothing was wrong, so that they would not freak out at the littlest things. It seemed to work most of the time, but they still kept their guard up. On the way to their destination, Naruto and Percy saw some odd things, like a family of Centaurs riding alongside them and one of them, the kid who looked like a second grader on a house, waved to them. While Percy looked to the adults to see if they saw, Naruto just smiled and waved. One other thing they saw a large golden lion, but they knew lions were not in America.

Right now however, he and the other were dumbly looking at a newspaper article. It had a picture with the four of them on it, Percy had a wild look and Naruto had a serious look on his face, his battle face. The article read:

_Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with three teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture. He also stated that they should get the blond one, Naruto, we thin his name is, for he was with Percy Jackson when he went with his mom on a trip._

"Oh that is just terrific!" Naruto commented sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Annabeth reassured them "Mortal police could never find us." For some reason, she did not sound all that sure about it.

When they tried to sleep on the train, Naruto slept like a log but poor Percy could not sleep with Grover AND Naruto's snoring. At some point, Grover's shoes fell off; making Percy and Annabeth hurriedly put it back on. Naruto cracked open an eye and smirked at that before closing his eyes while just listening to them.

"So," Annabeth asked Percy, once they had gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"

"What do you mean?" the boy asked with his own question.

"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?" Percy seemed reluctant for a moment before he caved in and explained what was going on in his dream. Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?" Percy countered.

"I guess ... if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?" Annabeth guessed.

"I am going the feeling that is someone a lot more darker than my dad." Naruto's sudden voice made the duo jump.

"How long have you been awake?" Annanbeth asked a little irritated.

"Since Grover's shoes fell off." Naruto replied simply while opening his eyes, making Percy grumble a bit.

Percy's eyes widened before he said, "You said you have the same dreams too!"

"Aye, that is what I said." Naruto confirmed.

"So who do you think it is?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, considering that we were next to a giant hole in the ground and the dead feared it, I would say a titan, more like Gramps 'o' Bits." Naruto replied.

"Who" both Percy and Annabeth asked with confused faces, making Naruto sigh.

"Our grandfather." That statement made Annabeth gasp and Percy's eyes widened. Grover continued to snore away.

"Why do you call him that?" Percy asked.

"Well, I like to give people nicknames and well, I don't have a lot of respect for the guy, even if he is family. So I played on his downfall. He was chopped into pieces after all." Naruto said, making the two chuckle a bit.

"Even so." Annabeth recovered and then warned her friends, "We can't can't barter with either one of them Kronos is an evil titan and Hades can't really be trusted. He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time—"

"This time?" the boys asked.

Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

"Maybe he had a reason to do what he did back then." Naruto suggested. "I mean, we have not heard both sides yet." Annabeth stared at him for a moment before Percy said something.

"What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot."

"You're not serious?" Percy asked while Naruto stared at the girl.

Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on the two boys. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."

"But how ... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."

"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."

Percy didn't know what to say to that, so he looked out the window just as the lights of nearby city passed by. He wanted to make her feel better after she said all that.

"My mom married a really awful guy," He started and she turned her head back to him. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."

Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It was probably her dad's. Naruto decided to help out. "At least you two had a family." He started, catching their attention, but Percy already knew the story. "I grew up in an orphanage where they treated me like scum. I was barely given anything to eat and was only treated right when the village leader came to visit me. At age 4, I was given my own apartment when the orphanage kicked me out. Until I was a genin, I only had the Hokage and the Ramen stand owner to call family. Everyone else in the village treated me like I was the plague."

Both Annabeth and Percy grimaced. Percy could get that wrapped around his head but there was a lot of crap in this new world of the gods that he could not as well. Annabeth just could not believe that but he words were not deceitful.

" Even so, he doesn't care about me," she said while trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. "His wife—my stepmom—treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened—you know, something with monsters—they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?" asked Percy.

"But ... you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."

"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway." She said sadly.

Naruto gave a sad smile and said, "Our resident satyr, Thalia, and Luke, right?" Annabeth nodded. Naruto leaned his head back and sighed. "You know, I think that all Half Blood have crap childhoods." They silently agree with him.

XXXX

Toward the end of the second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway the Gateway Arch in the distance. To Naruto and Percy, all it looked like was a giant shopping bag handle that happened to be in a large city. _Why do I get the feeling we have entered the shopping city… _Naruto thought.

"I want to do that." Annabeth sighed as she looked at the Arch. Naruto looked at her oddly.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Build something like that. You two ever see the Parthenon?"

"Nope, but in pictures I have." Naruto replied while Percy nodded to what Naruto said.

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

Naruto rose an eyebrow while Percy laughed, "You? An architect?"

Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

"Oh burn." Naruto smirked. "So, should we buy some large scale legos for you once this quest is over?" he teased, making the girl glare at him some before she chuckled a bit. She would not admit it but she used to play with legos a lot.

"Sorry," Annabeth said after a bit as she turned back to Percy. "That was mean."

"Can't we work together a little?" Percy pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"

Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?" Percy asked as they entered the city and the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.

"I suppose." she said at last.

"You know, I will never understand why some people do what their parents do." Naruto said mostly to himself, but they heard him. "I mean, not everyone hates me here."

"I think that could be because you have Nyx and Aphrodite in your blood." Percy suggested.

"That and you are not like your siblings." Annabeth muttered.

As they were pulling into the station, Percy asked, "Hey, Naruto. Who was that red headed woman from our dream?"

"That would be my mom, but she died the day I was born." Naruto frowned and Percy had wide eyes.

XXXX

The train pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told them they would have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

The boys exchanged looks. Naruto shrugged, he like seeing new things. Percy didn't want to but he was bored and he didn't feel like letting her go alone. Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

"That is cool with me, but I am paying this time." Naruto said and the others shrugged.

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. They threaded their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling them interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing the two boys jelly beans, so it was not all bad. Though, Naruto kept thinking. _"My god she sounds like Iruka._

Percy kept looking around them and asked Grover, "Smell anything?"

The goat man took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

"I don't sense anything either." Naruto shrugged.

Percy thought about it and said, "Guys. You know the gods' symbols of power?"

Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"

"Well, Hade—"

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Um, right," Percy said sheepishly. "Our friend _way_ downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"Yeah, it _was_ over my head remember?" Naruto reminded

"Oh yeah." Percy remembered before he asked Annabeth, " He was at the solstice?"

She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus—the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"Heh, and that could be why my shadow clone jutsu is different know. Because it made _out_ of darkness." Naruto responded.

"But then ... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" Percy asked nervously.

Grover and Annabeth exchanged looks before saying, "We don't."

"But I can see darkness, but he is a master of darkness so it is fair game I would guess." Naruto said but they did not make them feel any better.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy said sarcastically . "Got any blue jelly beans left?" Grover nodded and gave him some.

It seemed Percy was calm until they had to get into a small car that would send them up the Arch. Naruto groaned inwardly, He knew Percy hated small spaces but they had to use that to go up so he put a reassuring hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Percy smiled a bit at that. They got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar and she seemed to a baby fox as well with the same collar. This lady and her pets put Naruto on edge for some odd reason, maybe it was because none of the guards had said anything about the animals or the strange energy he felt.

However, the arched elevator was not helping their stomachs at all.

"No parents?" the fat lady asked.

She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that

bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings." She commented.

"Aw don't worry about it. "Naruto said. "they didn't want to spoil our fun, so they told us to go up without them." The lady just nodded to that.

The Chihuahua and the baby growled. The woman said, "Now, now, my darlings. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious. The fox looked quite agile and intelligent.

"Cute fox." Naruto smiled and she smiled as well but the fox growled a bit, seemed that it did not like to be called cute.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded them of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but it was making Percy and Naruto sick a bit. High places and closed spaces didn't mix well for them.

Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for the boys, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

Percy quickly steered them to the elevator but he and Naruto could not get in because there was already to many people there. "New car you two." The park ranger said.

"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."

See thing was going to mess everything up, Percy shook his head and said, "Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom. Besides, if anything happens, Naruto has my back, right?"

"Duh!" Naruto replied with a smile.

Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.

The only people left on the observation deck were Percy, Naruto, a little boy with his parents, the

park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua and the baby fox.

The boys smiled at the fat lady and she smiled back with her forked tongue flickering between her teeth. They paused at that, forked tongues were not normal. _Ok….this is not good._ Naruto thought while getting ready for anything and noticing Percy was still processing. He rolled his eyes at that.

Before either of them could really do anything, the Chihuahua and the fox jumped off the fat lady. The mini dog began to bark at Percy while the fox was growling at Naruto.

"Now, now, my darlings," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice

people here."

"Look, a doggie and a fox!" the little boy shouted while his parent pulled him back.

The two animal bared their teeth at the demi-god duo and the lady sighed. "Alright my children, if you insist."

"Uh….did you just call the chihuahua and the fox your children?" Percy asked and Naruto knew something was wrong with this lady.

"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make, but yes the chimera and the fox are my children." She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, they saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile's.

_Oh no…not the MOTHER of monsters! That would mean we have to face the REAL Chimera AND Teumessian fox! _Naruto thought frantically. He knew this lady's name. "Echidna." He whispered with fear. He did NOT think he could face her yet!

The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar. While that was happening to the seemingly small and harmless Chihuahua, the fox's growls became louder and louder as it grew to a gigantic size, like a large bull. It's red fur became spiky as if it was on end from is anger. The fox looked like very feral and dangerous.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monsters.

The Chimera was so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA—RABID, FIREBREATHING, POISONOUS—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS—EXT. 954.

The same could be said for the Fox. It had fiery red fur that looked like it could pop a balloon, very sharp teeth that had its fill of flesh, and a long and sharp claws on each paw that did not look friendly. It also had a collar that said: TEUMESSIAN FOX—FERAL, DANGERUOUS, VERY FAST, AND EATS CHILDREN—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

"O this is so not funny!" Naruto grumbled as he made Fear(Kyuubi) and Destruction(Dragon) appear on his hands. He growled when Peryc was frozen in fear and was NOT uncapping Riptide!

The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy

Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test two heroes with some of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

"Isn't that a kind of anteater?" Percy asked, making Naruto and a lot of other people face fault.

She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"

The Chimera charge with its Lion teeth gnashing, making Percy leap to the side before landing next to the family that was still up here. He looked back to see their fearful faces and he uncapped his sword. He would not let these people be harmed! He ran to the other side of the platform before yelling, "Hey Chihuahua!" It roared and sent a stream of fire out of its mouth, creating a large hole in the wall. _Oh great, we blowtorched a national monument. _Percy deadpanned to himself.

While that was going on, Naruto was dealing with his own problem. "You know, you look like a snake I know back home." Naruto said while keeping his eyes pinned to the Fox as it was prowling toward him.

"Oh, and who would that be?" Echidna asked with amusement.

"Oh just some psycho named Orochimaru." Naruto said as he jumped over a swipe from the Fox. He never noticed the shocked then very pleased look on the woman's face. "So, do we really got fight. Come one, let's be friends, just like the song. ~Why can't be friends, why can't we be friends!~" Naruto sang, irritating the woman,

"Children are my friends! Kill him my daughter!" She announced. The fox gladly accepted before charging the blond demi god.

"Aw man, where is that dog, Laelaps, when you need him!" Naruto grumbled to himself, but the fox heard him and growled, obviously pissed off. Naruto's face got serious as he reverse his grip on the blades, using the new sword style of Starkiller. He quickly jumped up to avoid the teeth and tried to slash at its back, it evade the strike. He then heard the Chimera roar and the snake like tail bit into Percy's leg, making Percy wobble on the edge of

"Oh my, I guess they don't make heroes like they use to, eh, son?" Echidna cackled, making the blond glare at her. Percy weakly glanced at the water below them and Naruto knew what the boy was going to do. Before he could get the boy's attention, the snake bitch spoke again. "If you are the son of Poseidon, you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline."

Percy did not look convinced; he did not think he would make it, even if he was the son of the Sea God. The Chimera reared its head back while its mouth began to glow, it was getting ready to chug more fire at the boy. "You have no faith," Echidna told him. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."

Percy grimaced, she was right, he felt that everything was slowing down; he looked back down at the water and then at Naruto and gave a weak smile as he fell of the platform just as the fire came rushing towards him. "Die faithless one!" Echidna rasped out.

"PERCY!" Naruto yelled out to his friend fell to the water below, he never heard Percy call out to his father softly. Naruto growled as the chimera and the fox was on him now. He made a decision then and there. He formed a Rasengan, plowed it into the face of the Chimera, yelling, "Out of my way!" he ran to the hole as the chimera crashed into a wall. He turned his head back to Echidna and said, "I will deal with you later you snake bitch!" He jumped off after Percy, with the Fox jumping out after him despite her mother's protests.

In the free fall, the blond saw Percy crash into the water and he somehow knew his friend would be fine. His problem however came in the form of a slashed back. He cursed himself for not applying the ANBU armor! Quickly activating the seals, Naruto saw the fox coming in for another swipe. _Well dad, looks like I have to use that jutsu so I can defeat this vixen!_ He thought as he let the fox strike at him while he dealt a palm strike to the fox's chest, which in reality, he applied a seal there.

He performed a few hand signs and yelled, **"Hellfire and Darkness Style: Wings of the Fallen Angel!" ** Black fire and darkness swirled around Naruto before it turned into large black wings. He smirked as he saw the shocked look on the falling fox and activated the seal while staying up in the air. "Time for a little action! **Flying Thunder God Jutsu!**" He yelled as the seal spread around the fox. Naruto disappeared in a flash of black.

He reappeared in another black flash above the fox, delivering an axe kick to its back, then on the left a large X like slash was dealt, on the right, it was stabbed four times, near the chest area, the same X shape was dealt, and finally in the front of the fox, Naruto dealt an oodama Rasengan right to its face, finally killing it. "HA! Uncatchable fox my ass!"

As the body was falling, it turned into a pair of red and black gym shoes, which Naruto quickly caught and tied to his waist. Sighing, the blond look back up at the Arch and cursed. It was on fire thanks to that chimera!. "I really hope the mist can cover this." Naruto mumbled as he performed some hand signs. "Uncle Poseidon, I am going to have to borrow some water! **Water Style: Great Dragon Rising!**" As the water below began to bubble up and form a chinese dragon, Naruto threw a three pronged kunai at a floating McDonald's. The dragon then shot out of the water, going upwards to the Arch. He used chakra to tag along as he is wings cancelled out.

Once up there, Echidna had a shocked look on her face along with the other occupants of the platform. "Told ya I would be back!" Naruto shouted as the dragon roared before only hitting the snake lady, her remaining child and the fire. The humans were not hit at all.

Echidna, who was on her hands and knees, glared menacingly at the blond. "I will so enjoy killing you one day, Son of Hades!" She growled out as she and her child disappeared in wisps of smoke.

"I be wait thing you crazy snake." Naruto muttered to himself, before he saw the human staring at him in wonder. He did not feeling like jumping again, so he smiled at the kid, saluted and said, "Ciao!" before disappearing in a black flash.

Percy climbed out of the river on to a floating McDonalds just as a black flash appeared, scaring the crap out of him. When it cleared, he saw a smirking Naruto, leaning against the wall. He was about to yell at his friend, when they heard, "Mommy looked, that boy walked out of the water and that one appeared in black flames!:

"That's nice dear." A mom told her child.

"But they are not even wet nor burnt!"

A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious, especially since an underwater bomb went off, making the water reach as high as the Arch, dosing out most of the flames. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of two people falling from the Arch."

At the word, survivor, Percy sighed in relief, but he wondered what they meant by underwater bomb, he was under water and none of that happened! "Ah Percy, that one was my fault, I sent a water dragon up to dose out the flames." Percy looked at his blond friend before turning back to listen to another reporter.

"... two adolescent boys," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show them going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."

"Uh…we should get going." Naruto replied with a sweatdrop.

"Right." Percy said as they kept their heads down.

They had almost lost hope in finding their friends until they heard Grover bleat out, "Per-ccy! Naruto!" Percy got tackled by his goat like friend while Annabeth ran up and hugged the blond first and then Percy when the goat boy got off.

She put on an angry look and yelled, "We can't leave you two idiots alone for five minutes! What the hell happened?"

"I sort of fell." Percy shrugged nnervously.

"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?" She said exasperated. "And what about you Naruto?"

"I used a jutsu to fly in the air while talking out the Teumessian fox! See, I got a prize" Naruto smiled brightly while his friend just gawked at him as he showed of the shoes.

Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Percy recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge firebreathing Chihuahua—"

"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and his friend followed after him. The boy that followed came back though, ON A DRAGON MADE OUT OF WATER!" Then she saw

The group. "There they are! It's those two boys!"

The boy paled before they dragged Annabeth and Grover away, not wanting to be the center of attention.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

"Oh yeah….that was no Chihuahua. That was the Chimera that bit Percy, who is somehow all better." Naruto explained while looking at Percy.

"Uh…water heals me?" Percy guessed with a shrug.

"Right." Naruto said sounding skeptical. "I had to fight that baby fox, who was not actually a baby!" Annabeth and Grover looked at the like they were crazy, so the boys decided to explain in detail. Percy told them about the Chimera, Echidna, his high dive act, and some underwater lady's message. Naruto told them about his fight with the Fox and pissing off Echidna.

Before Annabeth could respond, they passed another reporter doing a news break, however they almost froze when he said, "Percy Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boys who may have caused this explosion fits the description of two young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of them."

They quickly ducked under the news van to get away.

"First….we really need to get the heck out of town befoer we do anything else!" Naruto announced, which they agreed to whole heartedly. Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They boarded the train bound for Denver just as it pulled out of the station. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them. For once, Naruto did not have a witty remark as they left the station, of course, he did put on the shoes and applied some seal to them. Now he just need to figure out what they did.

**XXXX**

**Combining of two chapters, I did skip percy's talk with the under water lady, but I will recap that later. My computer is screwing up on me! Until then, Review!**


	15. HI! ARES!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 15**

**For those concerned about the army coming after them, don't be. If you have read the book then you know that is not the case.**

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, the train rolled into Denver. They haven't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They also haven't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, making them pretty noticeable to the other passengers.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit, but we will not tell him about Naruto making Echidna made, he already has a enough to worry about."

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked while Naruto chuckled at the jab.

"I'm not talking about phones." Annabeth replied, getting confused looks from the two, however she didn't answer them for a while. Instead, they wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though no one was sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere they turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at them, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

Finally they came upon an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure they were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," the goat man grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

Naruto sighed as he flipped a quarter to him. "Here ya go."

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

Naruto looked even more confused than before. "What are you talking about?" both boys asked.

Grover fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?" Percy asked.

"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"Huh…not that was something I did not know." Naruto said thoughtfully.

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" Percy asked, not believing this.

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow." Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

Annabeth walked up to Percy and held out her hand. "Drachma, please." Deciding to go along with it, he gave it to her.

She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested. For a moment, nothing happened. However, Naruto was surprised that the coin just disappeared in the rainbow, but all things considered, he should not be.

Then they saw through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. The image seemed to be set on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. "Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth and Naruto, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"Heh, never better man!" Naruto replied with smirking at Annabeth.

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt,

trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers.

Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?" Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement, making Naruto's eye twitch.

"Like we are not trying to have a conversation here with Luke through some mist." Naruto grumbled before he shook his head, realizing how crazy that sounded.

"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out

of sight. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered. Grover sighed as he gave Percy the hose, grumbling something under his breath as he left.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to the duo over the music. "Things are pretty tense here. Word leaked out about the Zeus—Poseidon—Hades standoff. We're still not sure how— probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon and Hades, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

"Oh great, just what we need." Naruto called out, throwing his hands above his head while Percy shivered at the thought of the Ares cabin backing him, but that was probably do to Clarisse's crush on his blond companion.

In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically.

"So what's your status?" Luke asked . "Chiron will be sorry he missed you guys."

Percy and Naruto began to relay everything to their friend, including the dreams. However, Luke was more surprised at the battle the boys had. "I wish I could be there," Luke told them. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... and I am sorry Naruto, but it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him."

"But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly." Percy said while Naruto growled a bit.

"That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible." They were silent for a while before he realized what he said. "Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

"I doubt that she would do that anyway." Naruto said, thinking that her personality would not let her do that. He did however store the little sister part away for future use. In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash.

"You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good. Oh and Naruto, how are you holding up, helping Grover protect Percy."

"Oh I am doing well. Like I said before, I might have pissed of Echidna, but things are good."

Percy nervously chuckled and said, "Yeah, I am wearing them. They are pretty handy"

"Really?" Luke grinned. "They fit and everything?" The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.

"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And

tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—"

But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. They were now alone in the empty car stall. "Smooth lie." Naruto commented, but was frowning at the spot Luke was at a moment ago. Luke seemed too cheerful, but that could have been his imagination.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw their faces. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," Percy lied, making Naruto raise on eyebrow, but he guessed that the boy did not want to say much at the moment, considering that Annabeth was a daughter of Athena. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

"Heh, good idea Percy, but this time, I am paying." Naruto said as he jabbed a thumb at himself with a smirk, livening up the mood.

XXXX

A few minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

"We, um, want to order dinner." Percy offered.

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Naruto chuckled, but before anything could be said, a rumble shook the entire place, a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. "O..k…" He got out as all conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather—but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face any of the kids had ever seen, and Naruto was from the ninja world! And his also had oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. Percy got the feeling he had seen this person before while Naruto felt like he knew the guy somehow.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen. He then turned his attention to Percy and Naruto.

They may have not been able to seen his eye but that had a bad feeling about this guy…well Percy did anyway. They also felt an energy that made them want to hurt something. Anger, resentment, bitterness were what they felt and it made Percy want to hit the wall, however, Naruto just rose any eyebrow, having felt this in the Ninja world a lot.

The man smirked at them and said while pointing at each boy respectively, "So you mush me old Sweaweed's kid and you must be Corpse Breath's kid."

"Bingo." Naruto smirked, not affected by the weird atmosphere, making the man raise an eyebrow

However, it was affecting Percy and he glared at the man. "What is it to you?"

Annabeth's eyes flashed Percy a warning while saying, "Percy, this is—"

The biker raised his hand. S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

Naruto answered before Percy could. "Hmm, I think your Clarisse's dad, right? The God of War."

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "Heh, got that right brat! You're a smart kid, no wonder my daughter likes you."

"What is not to like? I am a nice guy and I get along with a lot of people." Naruto replied with a clueless attitude.

Ares looked to the others and that they shrugged, silently agreeing with him that the blond was clueless. "Right…just be good to her brat or I will hunt you down!"

"Sounds fair." Naruto said seriously.

Ares nodded before he rounded on Percy, "And you, I heard you broke my daughter's spear."

"She was asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for—I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you." Ares offered.

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food—cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. Ares handed her a few gold drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.

"You can't do that," Percy told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."

Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta and the ninja world! Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."

"Wait, hold up!" Naruto interrupted with the time out sign. "You have been to the ninja world?"

"Oh yeah, learned a few tricks myself a few years back, heck I even fought some weird ass man who called himself a super pervert."

"Oh brother….Ero-sennin." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is that what you call Jiriaya? Kid, I like you, you really got guts!" Ares laughed.

"Cool, maybe if your free one day, we can spar for fun!' Naruto said with a carefree smile whiel Annabeth and Grover looked at him like he was insane.

"HA! Maybe one day brat!" Ares laughed before he was interrupted by Percy, who was getting annoyed at being ignored.

"What favor could I do for a god?" He asked rudely.

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy asked, but the fire in Ares' eyes sockets glowed a little hotter.

"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

Percy's face turned into an angry scowl but he was calmed when Naruto put a hand on the boy's shoulder and he felt calmer somehow. Percy knew then and there that Ares was causing his anger, Ares wanted him to attack, but thanks to his friend, and he saw some reason, he would not give the man that satisfaction.

"We're not interested," Percy said. "We've already got a quest."

Ares's fiery eyes made the boy see things he would rather he didn't see—blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful ..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath, of course me being the God of War, Ienjoyed seeing the little fight they caused amongst themselves."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?" Both boys asked.

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Gee thanks." Percy grumbled.

"So do you think dad actually stole it?" asked Naruto

"Tsk, I doubt it, old Corpse Breath has been bitching about to many dead people lately." Ares admitted.

"Anyway, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

"We're doing fine on our own." Percy glared.

"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."

"My mom?" asked Percy.

He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride." That made Naruto snort.

"What interrupted your date?" Percy asked with a smirk. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth, but Percy had seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.

"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me." After he said that, they blinked and he was gone! Percy wanted to believe that was just another dream, but Grover and Annbeth's eyes told him otherwise.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."

"Eh, think of it as a side quest you see in those videogames except this is mandatory to get the story along." Naruto shrugged before getting looks from the three. "What?" Annabeth just shook head while Percy grinned a bit with Grover.

Percy looked out the window to see that Ares' motorcycle was gone as well and he frowned, that man liked to mess with people's emotion so bad they break. He doubted the man knew anything about his mom. "It's probably some kind of trick," he said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."

"Yeah, let's just get this over with, I feeling dealing with you as a rat, Percy." Naruto replied in a serious voice.

Percy looked down at his cheeseburger and sighed, "Why does he need us?"

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"Or he is just lazy." Naruto said in a bored tone while leaning on his hand.

"But this water park ... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other. Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

XXXX

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.

"Heh, sounds foreign." joked Naruto, getting a few laughes.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," Percy said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

"Percy," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."

"Why? I thought you hated Ares."

"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."

"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added.

"Who is she? Echidna?" asked Percy, making Naruto choke on air.

"Dude, it is my grandma, who I am getting the feeling is going want me to call her mom as well." Naruto replied, getting an odd look, "Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love!" he informed him while Grover sighed with a dreamy look on his face, irritating Naruto, "Dude, I know she could be classified as a MILF but stop that! It is freaking me out!" Annabeth looked at Naruto with wide eyes for the MILF comment.

"Right, sorry, besides, Ares would probably kick my ass." Grover shivered.

"Wait, I thought she was married to someone already." Percy replied, "Hephaestus."

"What's your point?" Both Naruto and Grover said.

"Oh." Percy said, suddenly feeling the need to change the subject. "So how do we get in?"

_"Maia!" _Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

Naruto sighed as he threw a three pronged kunai at Grover's feet, who yelped. He then put his hand on Percy and Annabeth's shoulders and said, "Hold your breath."

"Wha-?" they both asked before they disappeared in a black flash, only to reappear the same way in front of Grover, who was gaping at them.

Naruto let go of their shoulders and they feel to their kness and dry heaved. "Ugh….i feel like my stomach was sucked out of me through my mouth." Percy complained.

"Agreed." came Annabeth's shaky voice.

"Well, I could have jumped you guys over but you would have probably screamed and I think we are trying to be quiet." Naruto replied with a smile as he walked ahead of them. Percy weakly glared at the blond's back while muttering something about sadistic bastards, his suffering blond companion could not help but agree. "Oh don't be that way, I told you hold your breath!' Naruto happily called out.

The shadows grew long as they walked through the park, checking out the attractions. Naruto smirked at some of them, wanting to try this place out sometime. Luckily for them, there were no monsters in site so they were safe.

They found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—

"Clothes," Annabeth said happily. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah," Percy said. "But you can't just—"

"Watch me."

She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged.

"Yeah, it couldn't hurt, these need a break anyway." Naruto commented. Soon the four of them were in Waterland clothes, like walking billboards.

They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. Percy got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath. "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said, to keep his mind off the growing dark, "they have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told him. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?" Percy asked.

"Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

"I am curious as to why she married him in the first place." Naruto said thoughtfully, while Annabeth and Grover shrugged.

"Well, I heard she likes bikers now, so that could be why Ares is one." Annabeth suggested, making Naruto shrug his shoulders.

"Whatever." Percy replied, not wanting to know anymore. "Hephaestus knows?"

"Oh sure," Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ..."

She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that." In front of them was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.

Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

Naruto snorted as they walked forward, "Didn't peg Ares to be the romantic type." However, Annabeth didn't think it was for regular romance.

Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look."

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

"This is too easy," Percy said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"

"Ya know, bet it will magically start as soon you get in." Naruto sarcastically said.

Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."

"Grover," Percy said, "you smell any monsters?"

He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."

"What about you, Naruto. You sense anything?"

"Nope." Naruto replied boredly.

"Good, let's just hope we don't run into Echidna like the Arch." Percy replied, while Grover had a hurt look and Naruto looked nervous.

"Sorry, but that was underground." Grover muttered.

"Yeah, and the Mother of Monster isn't that easy to track." Naruto grumbled.

"Sorry." Percy replied while taking a breath. "Ok, I am going in."

"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic; they guessed he was just making up for what happened in St Louis.

"No," I told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you and Blondie for backup, in case something goes wrong."

Grover puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?" Naruto slapped the back of his head.

"Never say that, because as soon as you do, something DOES happen!" Naruto commented.

"Sorry."

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me—"

"Are you kidding?" Annabeth replied while looking at the sea boy with a red face. Naruto smirking evily in the background.

"What's the problem now?" Percy demanded.

"Me, go with you to the ... the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"

"Who's going to see you?" Percy replied, his own face burning now. " Fine. I'll do it myself." He went to leave them but he noticed she was following him anyway, mumbling under her breath while Naruto was cackling evilly in his mind, while the smirk grew, scared Grover some. "What?" Percy asked when he saw Naruto.

Naruto's face contorted into that of an innocent smile while he looked the other way. "Oh nothing, nothing at all. Just becareful in there!" He said with a wave. Percy shook his head as he went in. Grover wondering how Naruto was clueless about love directed at himself but he was able to see it in others.

They watched as Percy and Annabeth got in the boat. Percy picked up some pink scarf, which Annabeth took away, say something about no love magic for him.

Percy scowled and reached for the shield, only to pale as his other hand hit a trip wire.

"Wait," Annabeth said.

"Too late."

"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap." She announced as the ride came to life and the boat drifted down the set stream.

Grover yelled, "Guys!"

"I called it!" Naruto replied with a smile. "Anyway, just think, him her, alone in the Tunnel of Love."

"Oh dear." Grover said with a blush.

"Besides, I think Luke is just a bit to older for her, don't you think?" Naruto replied with a smirk.

Grover sighed. "I can see what's happening."

"What?'"

"And they don't have a clue!"

"Who?"

"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line. Our trio's down to two!"

"Oh!"

"Wait! Now you got me in the dinsey mood!" Grover rounded on Naruto, who just smiled.

"So." Naruto replied before he said, "Hey let's watch them."

"How?'

"Oh with this, I got it from the camp's gift shop." Naruto said as he brought out a portable TV. While he was flipping through the channels, a few clones popped into existence just as he got the right channel. The clones began to sing, can you feel the love tonight.

Percy was pulling Annabeth out of the water, apparently she freaked out thanks to some spiders. Then a countdown started as the screen brightened up. A voice announced the Hephaestus Show to all of Olympus. "Oh I gotta record this!" Naruto suddenly replied, making Grover look at him like he was insane.

"Naruto! They are going to be shot out of there like a cannon!" Grover freaked out as he punched the clones, shutting them up for the moment.

"Aw don't worry about them. I am sure Annabeth can get Percy out of trouble." Naruto waved of Grover's concern. "Oh look, seems like she already thought of something." He was right, Annabeth had Percy hold back the water in there until the right moment.

That is when the Naruto clones began the last verses of the song. "And if he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed." Started one Naruto.

"His carefree days with us are history." The other clone sang. Grover sighed. There was no winning against Naruto! He shrugged, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Him and the original Naruto began to sing with the clones.

"In short, our pal is…DOOOOMED!" Right as they sang doomed, Percy and Annabeth shot out of the ride above them. The clones caught them before the duo hit the asphalt.

Annabeth yelled, "Ouch!"

"Yeah, I bet that little trip hurt a bit." The clone holding her replied, "Or it could be that I caught you by the back of your collar." The other clone chuckled before they both disappeared, dropping Percy and Annabeth on the ground. However, since the clones had caught them in the air, they fell. Percy on his back with Annabeth landing on top of him. Annabeth blushed when she notice her face was inches from his and quickly got up before he noticed, but she saw Naruto smirking at her, making her blush even more.

A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupid Cameras were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on them, the spotlights in their faces.

"Show's over!" Percy yelled. "Thank you! Good night!"

"Or, it could be the start of something new! Tune in next time!" Naruto announced while flinging his arms in the air happily. However, he sent some kunai on the cameras, destroying them. "Oops!'

He turned back to the other and saw that Percy's eye was twitching. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

"Yeah, I gotta ask the guy if he saw the show!" Naruto replied with a smile, Grover looking at him warily as the blond hid the TV, while Annabethw as still blushing.

**Ok, there we go! A little later than I wanted, please enjoy! REVIEW**

**Btw, I just had to include the Lion Song. Also, there will be some character in Vegas that will surprise you, can anybody guess? Let's see, Naruto's fear is also in Vegas...a good laugh for later.  
**


	16. Games Galore!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 16**

**Well, finals are over and so are the holidays. So here is the next chapter!**

****

The war god was waiting for them in the diner parking lot, leaning on his motorcycle. "Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."

Percy glared at him. "You knew it was a trap,"

Ares cracked a wicked smirk. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV, but I gotta say, the ending was hilarious!" He then gave a thumbs up to Naruto, who just smiled.

Percy growled and shoved the shield in Ares' hands. "You're a jerk." Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas." The demi god trio took one look at the truck and was able to read it because of the fact that it was in big black and white letters that were reversed. Heh, a good combination for people with dyslexia. It said: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Percy gave Ares a dead panned looked. "You have got to be kidding me."

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to him.

Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos. Naruto smirked, "No more looking like walking advertisements….sweet!"

"I don't want your lousy—" Percy growled out before Grover got behind him and covered the boy's mouth.

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving Percy his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."

Percy gritted his teeth, feeling the oppressive aura that Ares was giving off. Making him remember at the bullying he had to deal with in life. It was not comforting in the least, he still could not understand how Naruto could just shrug it off! He turned his head back to the diner and saw the waitress from before. He was nervously looking at Ares, like he was going to hurt them or something.

She even dragged out the fry cook to look. She said something, not that him or the now watching Naruto could make out, then the man took out a camera and snapped a photo of the group. Percy felt his eye twitch. He could already see the news headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER And he could tell that Naruto would just laugh at it.

"You owe me one more thing," Percy said as he turned back to Ares and trying to keep his voice in check. By now, Grover had let go of his friend but stayed close….just in case. "You promised me information about my mother."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

Percy took a shell shocked look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

"You never know Percy." Naruto said with a frown. "My dad could be expecting us….question is, why?"

Percy gave Naruto a look and said, "I am not sure, but we need to be careful either way."

Naruto put on a thoughtful look and said, "Hey Ares, I have question about my mom."

"Geez, what is with you kids and your moms!" Ares cried out and smacked his face. "Anyway, Aphrodite's kid is long gone, but let's think about it. What if I was your dad?"

Naruto chuckled, "I probably would not have ended up the way I have."

"Well, you are probably right about that. I am going now, good luck you brats!"

That was it for Percy's patience with the God of War's aura. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind Ares' sunglasses, fire glowed. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back and you Naruto Uzumaki, I would not take on more that you can chew but knowing you, you will."

"Of course!" smiled Naruto.

Ares revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."

"I don't care."

"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." Warned Annabeth.

"Ya know, if you grew up like I did, you probably would not be affected like Percy." Naruto said while crossing his arms behind his back.

"It was extremely for me but I suppressed it out of fear." Annabeth admitted.

"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..." He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck. "If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."

"I'll say." Naruto said as he leisurely made his way to the transport while the other ran. However, they were shocked to find that was already on the truck. "Hey, guys. What took ya?" He said with a bright smile. Percy looking back just in time to see the Naruto that they passed return to the shadows with a poof.

He smacked his head. "I should have known." He grumbled with a half-smile at his friend's antics.

Annabeth, still not used to this asked, "How did you do that and what is that smell!" saying the last part while holding her nose.

"Well that is what we get for riding with animals." Naruto deadpanned while jutting his thumb behind him to the animals. "Oh and the reason I was already here was I switched with a shadow clone when he mentioned the truck and before you ask, yes my Shadow Clone Jutsu tranfers all memories it has to me."

"Well….that is useful information." Annabeth said with a calculating look.

The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals the group had ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"

"No." said Naruto in a serious voice. "These are obviously unique animals and judging by the crappy condition we are currently in….this could possibly be a black market transport." Naruto growled but before any of them could do anything, the truck's engine roared to life and they began move. "Terrific." Naruto deadpanned.

"Well we should make the best of what we got." Annabeth sadly stated.

They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving, that and he was sure that Lion hungry and instead of the turnips, they were on the menu. However, Naruto was staring at the animals and his rage was growing. To him, this crap was worse than back home!

Home, he wondered if everyone was ok. Did they miss him at all? He doubted he would ever see home again, but this eclipse that Chiron was talking about, how would it affect him?

He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw Percy help out the three odd animals by switching the food to the right animals. He smile, "Nice job man."

"Thanks Naruto"

"Anytime, but let's help out with the other animals, shall we." Naruto replied, getting up with a smirk. Percy smiled and nodded. "Hey Annabeth, we could use your knife right about now."

"Huh? Why?" She asked.

"Well, we need you to cut off the balloon on the antelope's horn. Me and Percy can hold it down while Grover calms it down."

"Wow, good plan." Annabeth replied with a blink and then got to work. Once the balloon and the antelope were free from each other, Annabeth tried to get the gum out of the Zebra's mane, but with the truck's bounciness on the road, they decided it was better to wait.

"Grover, can you tell the animals to please calm down and that when we leave, so are they." Naruto asked the goat man.

"Sure Naruto." Grover replied as he translated the words to the animals and then laid down on a turnip sack to rest the rest of the way. Naruto went and sat by the albino lion, clearly not afraid what Annabeth and Percy sat down near the bag. The blond girl then began to nibble halfheartedly on some Oreos from said bag. He was wondering the same as Percy; where they just entertainment for the gods or what?

Even though Naruto was not near his friends, he could still hear them with his ninja abilities, he closed his and listened. "Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."

"That's okay."

"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," Percy guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."

"We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying and Naruto was the one who caught us."

Grover turned in his sleep and said, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Naruto smirked and decided to snicker in his 'sleep.'

Both Annabeth and Percy laughed at that, neither deciding to talk about what Naruto did after he saved them.

She pulled apart an Oreo, handed Percy half. "In the Iris message ... did Luke really say nothing?" Naruto wanted to groan at that. The girl was in love with someone who is almost twenty!

Percy munched on his cookie for a bit before he answered, "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."

"Man, Grover must have been lucky to find you, Luke and Thalia." Percy said.

"Yeah, but that luck turned bad….you know what happened." Annabeth said quietly.

"Sorry."

"It is ok, but it is like you said, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were ... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

Grover sighed as he got up, unable to sleep as he heard the conversation. "I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker ..."

"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" I said. "That's not fair."

"Yeah, so you could save everyone, so what." Naruto said, breaking his silence. "You can't save everyone, people learn that the hard way in my world. Besides, Thalia in limbo, so there is still a chance to save her. I am sure we can find a way. I made a promise to help her."

"They're right." Annabeth said, though she was curious about that Naruto said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."

Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the three most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia, Percy, and Naruto."

"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met.

Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now." She kicked Percy in the shin.

"Yeah," Percy said, though he would have said that anyway without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

"And your heart is your greatest strength." Naruto said with a smile in the darkness. They heard a deep but happy sigh at that.

"Thanks guys." He and soon he fell asleep within a few seconds.

"How does he do that?" Percy marveled.

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you two told him."

"I meant it." Percy said.

"Of course he does. It is the truth." Naruto said, his voice now closer to them.

Annabeth than asked a question that had been plaguing her for the last few moments. "Naruto what did you mean that you learn you can't save everyone in your world?"

"In world where war and battle from the shadows is constant, there is a lot of death. People take missions all the time and sometimes they run into a trap. We have a mission to do but friends can't abandon each other. Though some don't get a choice. Kakashi-sensei once told me of how his dad abandoned the mission he was on to save he comrades, he was met with oppression at that and so, he took his own life, leaving Kakashi alone since his mother was dead as well."

"That is horrible!"Annabeth cried and anyone could tell that Percy was shocked.

"Yeah, and thankfully times have changed, but still people lose their friends all the time. People are filled with regret, but everyone deals with it in their own stand in front of the Memorial Stone for hours on end, just staring at the names of the people he has lost…..and he reads porn in public. Asuma smokes and Gai wears green spandex and yells about the power of youth all the time. I am not sure what Kerunia does."

"That really must be a hard life to live Naruto." Percy said quietly.

"It was and in a way I am glad I am here, but I also miss all my old friends."

"Well you have us now so don't feel too lonely." Annabeth said.

"Heh, that is the plan and thanks." Naruto said and after a while it was quiet, so he closed his eyes and listened to their next conversation.

Percy notice that the blond girl had been rubbing on her necklace for a long time. He just assumed that she was thinking deep strategic thoughts.

"That pine-tree bead," Percy said, breaking the silence. "Is that from your first year?"

She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. "Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer..."

_Do I even want to know what happen that year._ Naruto thought with a shiver.

"And the college ring is your father's?"

"That's none of your—" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"You don't have to tell me." Percy said, feeling like he over stepped the boundaries.

"No ... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"

"Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain." She replied, not meeting his eyes.

"You shouldn't give up," Percy told her. "You should write him a letter or something."

"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."

There were a few moments of silence before Percy spoke up again.

"So if the gods fight," I said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given them, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain and I am sure Naruto is going to be on your side as well, no matter what! Any more stupid questions?" A few minutes later, Naruto was the only one that was actually awake.

_Man, these two have a strange connection. Don't know why I can feel that, but it must be an Aphrodite thing…either way I will what she has to say about these two…_

XXXX

Back in the dream world, Naruto was slumped on a desk back in Iruka's classroom. As usual, Iruka was droning on and on about something that he didn't understand. He turned his head and saw all of his old friends, including Sasuke!

_What kind of weird dream am I in?_

He then noticed the one person that did not belong in the classroom, not like the person was not welcome. It was Thalia She turned to him and said, "Well Fish Cake, can you do it?"

Naruto put on a confused face until everything zoned away and the cave from before was back and a voice echoed off the walls. _Percy Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki_, it said. _Yes, the exchange went well, 1 see._ This voice sounded like it was talking to someone else, but he could not see anyone but the astral images of himself and Percy, like always. _And he suspects nothing? _it asked.

That is when a familiar voice piped up but he could not put his finger on it and it was coming from right between the two. _Nothing, my lord. They is as ignorant as the rest._

Naruto's eyes darted all around but he could no one, whoever was speaking was invisible and it was pissing him off!

_Deception upon deception, _the thing in the pit mused aloud. _Excellent._

_Truly, my lord, _said the voice next to me, _you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly _—

_You? _the monster said in scorn. _You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened._

_But, my lord—_

_Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon and Hades have played their most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands ... but wait. Those two are here._

_What? The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned him, my lord?_

_No_. The voice said, bringing it attention to the two boys, like a weight ponding down on them. _Blast their father's blood—he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The other is part of this place! No….they brought themselves hither._

_Impossible! _the servant cried.

_For a weakling such as you, perhaps, _the voice snarled. Then its cold power turned back on

the boys. _So ... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-bloods? Then I will oblige._

The scene shifted all around them again.

They were standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was Percy's mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched. Although, she was not alone. Naruto's own mother was there as well. Just smiling at the blond with a hand stretched out, like she was waiting for him to come a get her.

Naruto's eyes widened and he tried to move toward her but he could not and he noticed that Percy could not either. His eyes widened ever more when he saw Percy was withering away to the bone, with grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around the boy, draping him with silk robes, wreathing his head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into his scalp.

He turned his head back to the two women, only to find a shadowed figure. He was dressed in old style ninja armor and his black hair was very spiky and long, but the things that stood out were the Sharingan eyes. It then pulled out a sword and threw it into Naruto's chest. Grimacing, the blond looked down at the sword and then back at the figure, only it had changed. It was Sasuke in Sound Ninja clothes. The Sound Sasuke slowly walked up to Naruto and put a hand on the blade. The evil voice began to laugh though Ssauke's mouth. _Hail, the conquering heroes!_ The next thing the blond hero knew, electricity was ripping into him through the sword.

The boys then woke up with a start, but Naruto was worse for wear. He was in cold sweat while Percy just looked a little shaken. "The truck's stopped," Grover said, checking to see if they were awake. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed. She put on her cap and disappeared while Percy and Grover dove behind the feed sacks. Naruto smirked as he did a henge and turned into a toad and hopped into the shadows.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. From his position, Naruto could see that Grover looked murderous at these two truckers for the way they were treating the animals and he could not blame them.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at Percy's position. Naruto wasn't sure but he thought the zebra was talking to the sea boy. He even had a pretty good guess of what he said too. And by the look on Percy's face, he was right.

There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside with them yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside—it must've been Eddie's—shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

_Knock, knock, knock._

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A few seconds later, Annabeth appeared next to Percy and toad Naruto hopped out of the shadow before he poofed back to normal. "Heh, nice one blondie!" Naruto smirked, figuring she was the one making the noise.

"Hey! Don't call that! You are blond too!" Annabeth countered.

"So, I know that and that is why I can say that!" Naruto smirked, making the blond girl grumble under her breath. His face become serious, "Seems I was right."

"You were!" Grover cried out. "We've got to free them!"

"Heh, time for a little jail break!" Naruto replied with a smile. He noticed that Percy was staring the Zebra before he slashed off the lock to its cage.

Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.

Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. The group rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. They had just released a zebra in Las Vegas.

Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.

"The other animals first," Grover said.

"Let's bring some chaos to the streets of Vegas baby!" Naruto shouted happily while throwing kunais at the locks, freeing all the animals. "Good luck you guys."

The animals burst out of their cage and ran into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—"

"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked.

"It only works on wild animals."

"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.

"Hey!" Percy protested, while Naruto fell off the truck, laughing.

"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

After a few minutes, Naruto calmed down and they starting walking, he smirked and said, "Don't worry Percy, even if you are not animal, you still got me to protect ya."

"Thanks Naruto, you are always on my side." Percy said as he walked a few feet in front of them, so he never saw the wide eyed grin on the blond's face.

Naruto closed one eye and looked at Annabeth with a smirk, said girl wondering what was going through the mystery blond's mind. "You know Annabeth, if Percy was some sort of animal….what do you think he would be?"

She smiled, getting the joke. She put on a thoughtful look with a smile when she saw Percy freeze up a bit in the walk through the streets of Vegas. Since it was over 100 degrees, Naruto was trying to liven up the mood in his own way. "I am not sure but if I had to guess it would be a dog…..most likely a mut."

"Oh thanks." deadpanned Percy.

"Harsh." Grover winced.

Naruto chuckled, getting odd looks. "Funny that you would choose that animal since it used in some….other stuff."

Grover and Percy looked at Naruto with stupid looks, not getting it at all. However, Annabeth, after thinking about it for awhile, was blushing madly. Given Naruto's Aphrodite heritage, he was actually using it and there was only one dog analogy that came to mind in the love field. "Pervert!" She growled as she whacked the back of his head. Naruto took off running and laughing when she tried to struggle him. She ran after him in a huff, leaving Percy and Grover alone and confused.

"Yeah, I don't get it." Percy stated, however, Grover's eyes widened and his face went red when he figured it out.

"Oh my."

"What?" Percy said, wanting to know. Grover leaned in and whispered in his friend's ear. Percy's eyes widened. "NARUTO!" He yelled as he ran after him, with Grover right behind him.

Naruto ran passed the Monte Carlo, and the MGM before he called out, "Hey its funny and it would have been funnier if she said you were a horse!"

Annabeth's face got redder. "NARUTO!" she screamed while he just laughed as he passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a smaller version of the original, until he just stopped in front of a music store all of a sudden, with Annabeth crashing into him followed by Percy and Grover. "Naruto I am so going to-"

"Hey a music shop!" Naruto interrupted, getting odd looks for his short attention span. "Let's see if they have it here since the gift shop back at camp didn't." he stated before going in.

Annabeth stared at Naruto as he went in without a care in the world. To Percy and Grover, she looked about ready to pull out her hair. Grover patted her back as he too went in. "Don't worry, you'll get use to him."

"Yeah and what do you think his animal is?" She spat out.

Percy and Grover looked at each other and deadpanned, "Fox."

Naruto made his way to the rock section while the others just browsed and none of them noticed the clerk.

Percy was looking at the new Katie Parry CD when he noticed the clerk making his way toward Naruto. His eyes widened when he noticed that guy look just like Naruto's fear. "Grover…." He whispered to his goat like friend, "We need to Annabeth and Naruto and get the hell out of here.

"Huh? Why?" he asked. Percy pointed to the clerk and Grover paled. "Oh no."

"Guys, what is wrong, it is like you have seen a ghost." Annabeth said as she came up to them.

"We need to grab Naruto and get the hell out of here!" Percy replied to a very confused blond girl.

"Too late." Grover groaned.

Naruto was browsing the rock section when he picked up the wrong CD. It had a picture of Marilyn Manson. He quickly put it back with a very freaked out expression. However, the nightmare had only begun for the poor blond because he was tapped on the shoulder by the clerk. He turned and paled. He slowly gained a horrified expression, nose running and all.

For the clerk was a tall skinny man with pale as the moon skin, a jaw like Orochimaru's or Michael Jackson's, long greasy black hair, a crappy black suit that was the store's uniform and it man the man look even more creepy, and to top it off, a grin that made people's skin crawl. "Hello little boy, is there _anything_ I can _help_ you with?" He said with a smile while he licked his lips very slowly.

By now, Naruto's eyes were very small and he let out a blood curling scream while yelling out, "KEEP YOUR TONGUE IN YOUR MOUTH!" and with a flash, he ran out the doorway of the music store, arms flailing.

Gaping at the scene, Annabeth could not form a coherent sentence. Percy sighed tiredly and said, "Come on guys, let's go find him before something happens to him."

"W-what the hell was that!" Annabeth got out.

"His fear….he is deathly afraid of pale old guys…..he thinks that all of them are pedophiles…" Grover sadly stated.

"Oh dear." Annabeth stated. "So it is like my fear of spiders."

"Yep." Percy said as they left the store.

Back where the man was standing. He was held the bridge of his nose before he groaned out. "Oh come on, one time and they recognize me in an instant!" A nearby family heard him and hurriedly made their way out of the store, making the man slap his head.

When the group made their way outside, they saw their blond friend on top of a light pole, clinging to it like a cat would. "Get down Naruto! The guy is gone!" Percy shouted.

"A-are y-you sure? I-is it r-really safe to b-be down t-there?" Naruto stuttered from top the pole with a nervous and freaked out expression.

"Yeah man, now get down, we can rest at the hotel at the end of the street." The sea boy reassured his friend.

"Ok then." Naruto said as he jumped down but still had an uneasy look on his face. They made their way to a dead end street with a building at the end of it with the banner saying: Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers—lotus blossom, maybe.

The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

"Love to!" Naruto squeaked and ran in, with Percy and the others quickly following/

"Whoa!" Grover announced. The whole lobby was a giant game room, and not that old crap you see in arcades. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"Um, but..." Percy stammered.

"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed them each a green plastic credit card.

"How much is on here?" Percy asked thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" the man asked, not understanding.

"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

The man laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

"Ah who cares, just get in the elevator!" Naruto said as he pushed them in.

They took the elevator upstairs and checked out th room. It was a suite with four separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, but with a room like this, they probably wouldn't have any time to check it out.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..."

"Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."

"No, not absolutely sweet." Naruto replied with a serious face until it broke out into a wide smile, "THIS IS FREAKIN' SWEET!"

Percy smirked and tossed the bag that Ares had given him into the trash, not needing it any more. They all went to their own rooms and took a shower. When Percy got out, he saw that Naruto and Grover where pigging out on the food provided for them and Annabeth had set the TV to the National Geographic Channel.

"All those stations," He told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting."

"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place." Without him even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.

"Got that right." said a dazed Naruto.

"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"

The boy looked at each other and smirked. They held uo the green plastic cards and said, "Play time!" They said, running out of the room to do their thing.

Naruto surfed on a hologram beach, not questioning how this was possible. He sling shot himself across the lobby 7 times, one for time then Percy could handle and then played laser tag with Percy and Grover. When Percy went off to do his own thing, He did too. He found Grover playing a reverse hunting game where he had to shoot rednecks. Annabeth was playing a sim game where she could build her own city. To him, she must be in heaven.

He walked around until he found himself in what looked to be a tournament for card games. Any kind of card game you could think was here.

_Don't be fooled son….this place is a trap but also a haven for some…_

Naruto jerked his head to the voice but could not see anyone. He reasoned that it was in his head. _Who is there?_

_Your father, and I am trying to wake you up….look to your left…at the table that is playing Mythomagic._

Naruto nodded slightly and saw the table. A young boy with olive colored skin was dominating the table. He smiled and walk over to watch. He noticed that the boy had shaggy and messy black hair and intense black eyes with a gleam of genius or madness….which is kind of hard to discern in most cases, but the kid seemed to be having fun. He also wear all black clothes and on the chair he was sitting on was an aviator's jacket.

A girl walked up beside our blond hero. He noticed that she had black eyes and dark brown hair. She seemed to be lean, and about average height. She had olive skin like the boy at the table, a sprinkle of freckles across her nose, and wore a floppy green hat that hides most of her face, but you could still see it.

_These two are here for protection….they are your half brother and sister. Don't let them know until it is time, for you will see them again._

Naruto sighed, "He is pretty good."

"I guess so." The girl replied. "It is a pain to watch him all the time though."

Naruto shrugged, "I guess that is what you do to keep your family safe."

"Yeah I guess." She said as she turned to the blond and help out a hand. "I am Bianca di Angelo by the way and the kid at the table is my brother, Nico."

"Like the Japanese word for cat?" joked Naruto, making the girl giggle.

"No no, the normal spelling."

"Oh, well my name is Naruto Uzumaki." He said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you Naruto." She said with a smile.

_Son, you must get out of this place, time is running out. Don't worry, you will see them again, so give them those new kunai you made._

Naruto slightly nodded and produced to small boxes and gave them to Biance, who took on a confused face. "It is a gift for you two, for the future."

"Why would you do that, we hardly know each other." She asked, staring at the odd designs on the black boxes.

"I like I said before, it is what we do to keep our family safe." Naruto said, Bianca looked up at the boy quickly to see that he had disappeared. She turned her attention back to the box and opened her box and saw a pure black kunai with white seal designs all over it.

"Whoa." was her reply.

Naruto made his way back to the others. It seemed this place dulls the senses and makes you think you had only been here for a few hours. He found Percy trying to get Annabeth away from her Sim game. "Come on," Percy told her. "We've got to get out of here."

There was no response, so Percy shook her.

"What? She replied, looking annoyed.

"We need to get out of here!"

"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers—" She said.

"This place is a trap." Percy replied franticly, but she just ignored him as she went on with her game.

"Maybe this will help." Naruto said from behind, shocking the hell out of Percy. Naruto made the tiger sign and called, "Kai!"

A strange glow surround Annabeth before she blinked and looked up. "What, what is going on?"

"This place is a trap, we need to go!" Naruto replied. Annabeth's eyes widened and she shot off with the two boys to find Grover.

"Hey, Naruto, what do you do back there?" Percy asked.

"Added chakra to Annabeth to disrupt the illusion placed around her. Seemed that it worked this place lays on illusion on you."

"So you figured that out to!" Percy asked.

"Aye, that I did."

"Oh gods, how long have we been here?" asked Annabeth.

"To be honest, I would rather not know." Naruto replied, though it was not reassuring to the two following him. When they found Grover he was still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.

"Grover!" they shouted.

He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"

"Grover!" Percy shouted again, only for the goat man to point the plastic gun on him and start clicking.

"Gee, someone had issues today." Naruto commented.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other and grabbed Grover by the arms, dragging him away from the game. "No! I just got to a new level! No!" he yelled franticly.

The Lotus bellhop hurried up to them, "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"Sorry, but we need to go." Naruto replied.

"Such a shame," he said, and he got the feeling that he really meant it, that they would be breaking his heart if they went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the card and Naruto saw that Percy was staring at it longingly, he could tell that the sea boy really wanted it.

Grover tried reaching for it, but Annabeth yanked him away and said, "No thanks!" and they walked out the front door, but the smell of the food and the roar of the games made it all more inviting, like ti was trying to pull them back in.

The pack that Ares had given Percy was back on his should and Grover blinked a few times, regaining his bearings. Percy ran over to the newspaper stand to check the date, the others looking over his shoulder. It was the same year thankfully, but not the same day. They had been in the Casino for 5 days and there was only one day left until the summer solstice and for the quest to be over.

"Oh shit." Naruto groaned out, saying what was on everyone's mind.

****

**Well, there ya go people. I hope ya liked that. Please check out my profile, I have a few pictures made for my stories that I have made and for those to be. I am getting a picture for this as well.**

**Review.**


	17. Time to stretch!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 17**

****

It was Annabeth's idea. She loaded the group into the back of a Vegas taxi as if they actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized them up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card. He looked at it skeptically. "Swipe it," Annabeth invited.

He did. His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

"Whoa." Naruto said, "Heh, good thing I kept mine."

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"

"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter. Naruto eyed her then Percy and he could tell that Percy could tell that Annabeth was enjoying the "Your Highness" thing a lot. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change." However, maybe she should not have told the man that, because his speedometer never dipped below 95 the whole way through the Mojave Desert.

On the way there, Percy begun to tell them about his recent dream, which Naruto commented on because he too had a similar dream. Though, there was one name the two of them could not remember…..the nickname of that being that taunted them. All that they could remember is that that it ended in One.

"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"Maybe." Percy said but he felt that the name was wrong.

"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

"Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit ... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice." said Percy.

Annabeth eyes widened while Naruto shrugged. "Who knows what it is. We just know it is evil."

"No, it _has_ to be Hades." Annabeth demanded, "Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible

person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong—"

"You know, you are really set on my dad being the bad guy." Naruto grumbled. Annabeth gave him a look and he raised his hands in defense. "Alright, I get he was the bad guy in the past but people change, no matter what they are."

"I hope you are right." Percy replied.

"I understand that, but if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dreams, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."

"But if we would have already retrieved the bolt," Percy said, "why would we be traveling to the Underworld?"

"Good question." Naruto replied, "that is something the three old ladies should have taken to heart….or their afraid of something."

"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."

"You have evil thoughts for a goat." Percy deadpanned.

"Why, thank you."

"Are we rubbing of on ya?" Naruto commented with a smirk and one eye open.

"I don't know." Grover shrugged.

"The thing in the pit also said it was waiting for two items," Percy said. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?" Grover and Naruto looked at each other, then at Percy and shrugged.

"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" Percy asked Annabeth, but for some reason, he could tell she did not want him ask it. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"

"Percy ... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades ... No. It has to be Hades." She replied.

"Yeah, compared to what is in there, I guess you guys would want it to be dear old dad." Naruto said with his eyes closed. Annabeth seemed slightly relieved after that, but just a bit.

Wasteland rolled by as well as a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES. Along the way, Percy stared out the window thinking about the quest while Naruto had his eyes shut tight, trying to make sense of this quest.

"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured them. "You two saw spirits of the dead. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."

She tried to boost the morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the

Dead, but Percy seemed disheartened by it. There were just too many unknown factors. It was like cramming for a test without knowing the subject. That thought Naruto could not help but chuckle about, he had seen Percy do that and it was a laugh fest.

The cab sped west. Every gust of wind through Death Valley sounded like a spirit of the dead. Every time the brakes hissed on an eighteen-wheeler, it reminded the boys of Echidna's reptilian voice.

At sunset, the taxi dropped us at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave.

As they walked down to the edge of the surf, Annabeth asked, "What now?"

"Yeah, I got no clue." Naruto deadpanned, "but water boy might." He pointed to the son of the sea, who was walking in the water.

"Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?" He was neck deep when the she called out again. "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic—" though he just ignored her as he went under.

"Gee Annabeth, afraid for his health in his own element?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"Oh! Shut it!" She replied with a red face.

Naruto sighed and looked out onto the water. The setting sun was making the water look gold. It was hard to believe that Percy and his dad could control all of this. He slowly walked toward the water himself. He sent chakra to his feet as he stepped out onto the water.

"You know Annabeth. I am just messing with you." He said as he stared out onto the setting sun. "But you know, Percy is a good kid so I am glad you took up the mantle of being one of his friends….no matter what happens."

"Well yeah. He grows on ya, like a fungus, but so do you with that personality of yours." She replied. "but yeah, no matter what happens I will always be his friend."

"Yeah! Same here!" Grover commented.

Naruto smiled while turning to them with the sun at his back. "Good, because that is how true comrade operate. Grover, I think Percy has his part to do in the days to come, but as his best friends, so do we. We gotta protect him as he would do that same thing. Annabeth, you're a good friend to him and I am glad for that. But you also act like a nagging mom." He heard a huff from said girl and he lightly chuckled. "Though that is not necessarily a bad thing considering you're the one who keeps us in line."

Annabeth chuckled. "That is a full time job with you three numb skulls." That got an indignate 'hey!" from the two.

"So yeah, I am glad you became our friend, especially Percy's." Naruto said and then disappeared and reappeared while leaning on the girl with his elbow. "but you know, I am getting the feeling that you two will be more in the future."

She looked at him like he was nuts and stepping away making him fall on the sand. "Don't count on it."

Picking himself up and brushing the sand off, he said, "Well, nothing is set in stone, so ya never know." And he let it at that as Percy emerged from the water, already dry.

"What's up water boy?"

Percy tripped a bit at that before he told them about the Nereid and her words and gifts. He even showed them the four pearls. Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price."

"They were free."

"No." She shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait."

"Guess that is universal then." Naruto commented and got odd looks but he waved them off.

On that happy note, the turned their backs to the sea as made their way to another Cab. Percy, for some reason, decided to use the spare change from the Ares pack. Naruto could fathom why he was not use the blond's money or the lotus cards they got, but he shrugged it off. They showed the address that Percy got from Aunty Em's place but the driver had never heard of the place called, DOA Recording Studios.

While looked from his rear view mirror, the driver asked Percy "Hey, you remind me of somebody I saw on TV, you a child actor or something?"

Naruto gained an 'Oh shit' smile while Percy made a good cover up. "Uh ... I'm a stunt double ... for a lot of child actors."

"Oh! That explains it." The driver said, while Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think it is best we get off here." Annabeth stated as they pulled to a stop at a stop light.

They wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book. Along the way, they had to duck in the allies so the Cops wouldn't find them. Besides, with their rep right now, they could not afford to get caught with their quest just about over.

As they walked, Naruto noticed that Percy had froze in front of an appliance store. He stopped to when he saw it. Curious, Annabeth and Grover back tracked to watch as well. A television was playing an interview with somebody who looked very familiar—Percy's stepdad, Smelly Gabe. He was talking to BarbaraWalters, as if he were some kind of huge celebrity. She was interviewing him in his apartment, in the middle of a poker game, and there was a young blond lady sitting next to him, patting his hand. A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife ... my Camaro ... I—I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver." The screen cut to a grimy photo of the four of them, standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares.

"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Growl out Naruto with a twitching eyebrow. "When we get back, Gabe is so getting it!"

"Come on." Grover said as he pulled a fuming Naruto and a shell shocked Percy away from the TV.

"I can't believe Gabe! That guy was an ass before but this just takes the cake!" Naruto ranted. "And how you could put up with the guy is beyond me!"

"Most of the time I can't." Percy said, now shaking in rage.

It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. Now normally they wouldn't have to worry because Percy was a New Yorker and he was use to this stuff and Naruto was a ninja who dealt with things tougher than this. Of course, L.A. had a totally different feel from New York. Naruto, having lived in New York for some time now, new how to get around the city without getting lost, no matter where he was. The same could be said for Percy, but they were in a new city, and were having a hell of a time getting around.

In New York, the street patterns and the subway made sense. There was a system to how things worked. A kid could be safe as long as he wasn't stupid. But is L.A., it was a chaotic mess and everything was spread out. It wasn't enough for L.A. to be big; it had to prove it was big by being loud and strange and difficult to navigate, too.

They walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at them like they were trying to figure if the four of them were worth the trouble of mugging. Naruto took one look at them and mumbled, "I swear, this place is worse than Tanzuko Town." before he discreetly took out his Minotaur blade and channeled some chakra to it, creating a genjutsu that showed them guarded by a few of the man bulls. The thugs all paled before they turned around, minding their own business.

Annabeth, turned just in time to see her fellow blond putting away his blade by making it turn back into a charm. "I am not sure if I should berate or hug you for that. By the way, what did you even do?"

"That's right, I never told you what my Minotaur Blade could do." Naruto said he pounded his fist like he just remembered something. "It has the special ability to create a genjutsu to my liking."

"Genjutsu? You mean like an illusion?" Grover asked, having heard that word before.

"Yep!" chirped the blond ninja.

"So what do you make this see?" asked Percy.

"Oh just us being guarded by a few minotaurs, though from their perspective guess, all they really saw was a bunch of big burly guys." Naruto explained.

"Oh that blade is what you made with the Hephaestus kids….nice!" Percy smirked.

"I could make you one to if ya want." Naruto offered.

"Let's just get through this quest before we make any promises." Grover injected, though he was still impressed.

That little scare though worked on only one set of enemies however, for as soon as they passed an ally, they heard, "Hey, you." They stopped but they should not have because a group of thug looking kids appeared from the ally and surrounded them. There were six of them in all— white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. Like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys.

Without thinking much about it, Percy brought out riptide. The sword appearing out of nowhere, made a lot of the group back off, but the leader, being stupid or brave…not that it mattered, walked up to them with a switch blade ready.

Naruto widened his eyes when Percy swung his sword, but was shocked that it just passed through the kid. Said kid flinched instinctively before he figured out what happened. In that time, Percy finally got smart and yelled for his friends to run.

Grover and Annabeth pushed two of the kids away before they got to Percy. Naruto high kicked them in the face, allowing some more time for Percy to get away.

Having recovered, the leader threw his knife at Naruto, however, the blond haired ninja caught between two fingers before he threw it back. The leader of was caught off guard as it plunged into his right arm. Grimacing in pain, the kid took out a gun and fired, making Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to look back in horror. However, that turned to shock at what they saw. Naruto pulled out a kunai as time seemed to slow down for him. He channeled wind natured chakra into the kunai and swung downward, slicing the bullet in half and colliding with the two idiots that tried to sneak up on him. The fragments hit them in their shoulders, send them back on their asses.

When Naruto turned to flee, the leader yelled, "Argh! Get them!" while pulling out the switch blade as the remaining thugs blocked Naruto's way. Thinking quickly, Naruto ran to the side, running along the wall as he reached a dumpster before he flipped off just the switch blade hit the place he was at. He landed next to the other three in his group. He stared at their gawking faces for about two seconds before stating, "Don't just stand there! Run!"

They quickly followed the blond before Annabeth spotted a store that was open. "There!"

They only open store on the block looked open, its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.

"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.

"What? Did Crusty the Clown escape TV land or something?" Naruto commented as they ran toward it.

"Well, he is not the only weird thing that made their world to our world." Annabeth commented with a smirk.

The blond ninja ninja gave her a deadpanned look. "I laughing hysterically on the inside." He said as they burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.

"I think we lost them," Grover panted.

A voice behind them boomed, "Lost who?" making then jump six feet into the air.

Standing behind them was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. He moved toward them slowly, and it was kind of scary.

His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It belonged back in the seventies, big-time. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck…where just too many to count.

"I'm Crusty," he said, with a tartar-yellow smile.

Naruto eye twitched. _Ok…must be related to that clown….the teeth are the same._

"Sorry to barge in," Percy told him. "We were just, um, browsing."

"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I

get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?" They were about to say now but he put a giant paw on Percy's shoulder, guiding him around. So, others followed, grumbling under their breath. There was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe-size.

"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O. "Million-hand massage," Crusty told them. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, any-way."

"Um," Percy said, "I don't think ..."

"Million-hand massage!" Grover cried, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."

"Hmm," Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost."

"Almost what?" Percy asked.

He looked at Annabeth. "Do me a favor and try this one over here, honey. Might fit."

He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder and led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter. When Annabeth didn't want to lie down, Crusty pushed her.

"Hey!" She protested.

By now, Naruto had already made his way onto a bed. _"Something about this doesn't sit right._ He thought. _Stores don't usually let people do this…even if there was no business. _That is when he shot up in the bed, realizing what this place was, but it was already too late.

Crusty snapped his fingers. "_Ergo_!" Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress. Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down. The ropes quickly swung around Naruto, bringing him back down on the bed.

"N-not c-c-cool!" Grover yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"

"Ah shit, I should have seen this crap happening!" Naruto grimaced as he grabbed the ropes, trying to keep them from pull at him.

The giant looked at Annabeth, then turned toward Percy and grinned. "Almost, darn it."

Percy tried to step away, but the man's hand shot out and clamped around the back of his neck. "Whoa, kid. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec."

"Let my friends go."

"Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first."

"What do you mean?"

"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit." Percy turned in horror, seeing his friends struggle in pain.

"Can't stand imperfect measurements," Crusty muttered. "Ergo!" A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Grover, Naruto and Annabeth's ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling them from both ends. Though Naruto was doing a pretty good job at resisting.

"Don't worry," Crusty told Percy, "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"

"Percy!" Grover yelled.

"ARGH! I am so going to rip you to shreds when I get out of this!" Naruto angrily spat out. Percy noticed that his friend was also give him the 'use your brain' look.

Looking back at Crusty, Percy asked, "Your real name's not Crusty, is it?"

"Legally, it's Procrustes," he admitted.

"The Stretcher," Percy said, remembering the story: the giant who'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens. Not good!

_I knew it! Damnit! _Naruto thought angrily.

"Yeah," the salesman said. "But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now 'Crusty,' anybody can say that."

"You're right. It's got a good ring to it." Percy replied, getting an idea.

Crusty's eyes lit up. "You think so?"

"Oh, absolutely," Percy said. "And the workmanship on these beds? Fabulous!"

He grinned hugely, but his fingers didn't loosen on Percy's neck just yet. "I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?"

"Not too many."

"That's right!"

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Don't mind her," Percy told Procrustes. "She's impossible."

_Oh smooth one…but hurry the fuck up water boy! This shit hurts! _

The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting."

"What do you do if they're longer than six feet?" Percy asked with fake curiosity.

"Oh, that happens all the time. It's a simple fix." He let go of Percy neck, but before the water boy could react, he reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He said, "I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

"OH YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!" Naruto yelled.

"Please don't mind my blond friend." Percy nervously said, trying to save his friend's hide. He gulped and looked at the axe. "That does seem sensible.

"I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!" The sales giant proclaimed.

Percy chanced a glanced a look at his friends. Those ropes were really taking a toll on them. Annabeth looked pale, Grover was making gurgling sounds; like a strangled goose, and Naruto had a very red face, the strain seemed to pissing him off or it was just from stress.

"So, Crusty ..." Percy said as he turned back to the giant man, trying to keep his voice light. He glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"

"Absolutely. Try it out."

"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"

"Guaranteed."

"No way."

"Way."

"Show me." Percy said as he folded his arm with a skeptical expression.

Crusty sat down eagerly on the bed, patted the mattress. "No waves. See?"

Percy smirked as he snapped his fingers. "_Ergo_."

Ropes lashed around Crusty and flattened him against the mattress. "Hey!" he yelled.

"Center him just right," Percy commanded of the ropes and surprisingly they did. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom.

"No!" he said in a panicked state, realizing he had just been duped. "Wait! This is just a demo."

"A few simple adjustments ..." Percy as he uncapped Riptide, ready to lop off Crusty's head.

"You drive a hard bargain," Crusty tried to bargain. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models."

"I think I'll start with the top." Percy raised his sword.

"No money down! No interest for six months!"

"OH JUST LOP HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF ALREADY!" shouted Naruto from his position. Percy did so and watched at the man turned to gold dust like all the other monster they had seen did. The water boy quickly cut the ropes off of everyone and there was a lot cursing and groaning after he did that.

"You look taller," Percy said, looking at them.

"Very funny," Annabeth said. "Be faster next time."

"A hell of a lot faster next time." Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his arms. "But hopefully there won't be a next time with that psycho!"

Percy looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk, ignoring their complaining at the moment. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters— "The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

"Come on," Percy said as he walked to the door, Naruto following him quickly as he was ready to get the hell of this store.

"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death."

"Then you're ready for the Underworld," Percy said. "It's only a block from here."

"Oh joy." Naruto replied sarcastically. "Time to meet dear old dad."

****

**Ok guy I have some big news. Yes, we are almost done with this book. **

**For those of you reading my Alternate Dimension series, the reason I am going to be late on this is because I am working on something big. I will give you all a hint. A crossover in a crossover.**

**Anyway, Review please! I am going to bed….**


	18. Good Dog!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 18**

**Sorry, thought I could get this in sooner with the recent snow but I guess not.**

They stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black

marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece. Percy turned to the others and stated, "Okay. You remember the plan."

"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative."

"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

"That's the spirit!" Naruto joked. "Don't worry, you got me and Percy to protect ya if anything goes to hell."

Annabeth looked at her follow blond with a deadpanned expression. "That is what I am worried about." She paused for a moment as Percy was messing with the pearls. "But I guess we will be alright." She said, nudging Grover.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

Percy looked to his friends and smiled, "Thanks guys." He felt eternally grateful to them. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."

"YEAH!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air, before they enter the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. If you looked at the directly, you would see that they were transparent!

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so they had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy eyed the name tag in bewilderment and before Naruto could stop him, he spoke. "Your name is Chiron?"

He leaned across the desk. Percy couldn't see anything in his glasses except his own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no."

"Sir," he added smoothly.

"Sir," Percy said.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon."

"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," Percy repeated.

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

"We want to go the Underworld," Annabeth stated after Percy looked to her for help.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" she asked.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked them over. "How did you die, then?"

"Oh," Grovere said after was nudged. "Um ... drowned ... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked. They nodded.

"Big bathtub." Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Percy interjected as put down some gold drachmas on the deck that they had 'received' from Crusty.

"Well, now ..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in ..." His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

Then Charon looked at Percy and then a bit at Naruto. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through Percy's chest. "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," Percy said quickly. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a

godling."

"We have to get to the Underworld," Percy insisted.

Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat. Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.

"Leave while you can," Charon told them. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

Naruto had enough of this. He was never that patient to begin with anyway. "Ok enough Charon! Just let us through so we can see my dear old dad!"

Charon seemed to pale a bit before he sighed. "Oh so you are the kid mum talked about." He seemed to give the boy a once over. "Still, even if you are family, you should just go." The man said before reaching for the coins.

Naruto slipped his hand over the coins with a sly smile. "Well, if you won't give us passage into the land of the death, I guess you don't get the money."

Charon growled again—a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

"It's a shame, too," Percy sighed, catching on "We had more to offer." Percy lifted up the whole bag of coins, before he took some out and let them slip through his fingers.

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godlings? Eh ... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot my brother." Naruto stated. "Just out of curiosity, how much does dad pay you for all you hard work here? I am betting not a lot since your eyes seem to be craving these coins"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better," Percy agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay." With each word he put a gold coin on the man's desk.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even

better. "I must say, lads, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

"You know. If we talked to my dad, I bet we could get you that raise you so dearly want." Naruto smirked as Percy put a few more coins down.

Charon sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you four and be off." He paused a moment though and looked at Naruto and then the coins. "Add four more coins and will do what mum told me and my sibs."

"Fine." Naruto said as dug into the bag and got a few coins and put them on the desk.

"Good!" Charon cheered as he scooped up the coins and slapped Naruto one the back as he walked around them. They noticed that Naruto seemed to glow a bit but that was all. "Come on!" The ferry man said as he opened the doors.

They pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things the four couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

He escorted them into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with the group and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?" He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and they started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's ... fair."

"Depends on what you call fair." Naruto grumbled under his breath.

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We'll get out alive," Percy said.

"Ha." Charon laughed. "You have as much a chance as hades' kid….and even that is not a lot!"

"Oh that is soo nice to know." Naruto deadpanned. After that, the elevator stopped going down and that made their stomach's roll a bit as they instead moved forward. Then the spirit's modern clothes turned to that of gray hooded robes. Naruto gained a bored look after that as he saw Charon change form as well.

Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets—like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

The man noticed Percy staring, "Well?"

"Nothing." Percy managed to say before he noticed the elevator was not a boat of sorts. Which did explain the swaying.

"I think I am getting seasick." Grover complained.

"And in the middle of the River Styx too." smirked Naruto as Grover paled a bit. The River Styx was a bit different than any of them expected. It was a a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so ..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above them, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

Naruto noticed that Percy's eyes widened in a moment of pure panic and he could tell what the boy was thinking. He, however, smiled when a nervous Annabeth grabbed the water boy's hand and that seemed to calm the two of them down. He looked to Grover and noticed the goat boy was silently freaking out. Naruto sigh at that, but luck, like usual, was on his side. A guitar was in the river and was sticking out. He grabbed it and for a moment he glowed again. He pulled the guitar out of the River and noticed it was attached to something in the River.

Looking again to the shore, he noticed that were a long way off. "Well, no time like the present to relieve some bordem." He said as he got a few looks from the others.

"W-what do you mean?" Grover shuttered.

"Oh I am just going to liven up this place with a song and yes Grover, it is a Disney song." He paused. "I know the perfect song for this type of atmosphere."

"Please don't sing the Oogie Boogie Man song….PLEASE!" Freaked Grover.

"Whoa O!" Naruto sang.

"Whoa…O" the voices of the dead droned out, scaring the crap out of the blond's friends.

"I'm the Oogie Boogie Man!" Naruto laughed before shaking his head. "Nah…..not enough life to it." Charon chuckled a bit. Someone finally had enough courage to lightning up the mood on one of these trips. The others just gave Naruto a scared look.

"Here. We. Go." Naruto began as he begun to play but it also sounded like music was playing in the background…..(This is Halloween by Marilyn Mansion)

"_Boys and girls of every age_

_Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see_

_This, our town of Halloween"_

Charon chuckled when the dead started to pay more attention to what was going on and begun to sing along, scaring the crap out of the blond prince's three friends.

"_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night_

_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene  
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright  
It's our town, everybody scream  
In this town of Halloween"_

The trio saw the dead were flying about now and giving off random bouts of screams. When the next part came, it sounded like something under the boat was singing along.

_"I am the one hiding under your bed  
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red_

_I am the one hiding under yours stairs  
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

_In this town, don't we love it now?  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise"  
_

A Coo Coo Clock's bird shot up out of the muck and made Annabeth scream.

_"Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can  
Something's waiting no to pounce, and how you'll..._

_Scream! This is Halloween  
Red 'n' black, slimy green_

_Aren't you scared?_

_Well, that's just fine  
Say it once, say it twice  
Take a chance and roll the dice  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night_

_Everybody scream, everybody scream_

_In our town of Halloween!"_

His three friends where white as a sheet by this point as the ghosts were flying around screaming in good nature. Then three weird ghosts came up to the three. A clown for Grover and two robed ghost for Percy and Annabeth respectively.

_"I am the clown with the tear-away face  
Here in a flash and gone without a trace_

_I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"  
I am the wind blowing through your hair_

_I am the shadow on the moon at night  
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween!"  
_

Naruto put an arm around Grover and smirked while singing the next part.

_"Tender lumplings everywhere  
Life's no fun without a good scare_

_That's our job, but we're not mean  
In our town of Halloween_

_In this town_

_Don't we love it now?"_

By this time, both Naruto and the Dead were all singing cheerily.

_"Everybody's waiting for the next surprise  
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back  
And scream like a banshee  
Make you jump out of your skin  
This is Halloween, everybody scream  
Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy_

_Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin patch  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

_In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

_La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween!"_

By the time they had reached the shoreline, Grover looked he was about to pass out from fear while Percy and Annabeth looked very pale and scared. Charon chuckled. "Well, you sure now how to liven up the party, although, I think you scared your friends to death."

"Hmm?" Naruto replied as he looked to his three companions. "Oh come on guys, lighten up"

"P-please don't do s-something like that a-again." Grover stammered out, to which the others just nodded to very quickly.

The blond ninja sighed. "Very well. I am sorry, but I was bored and had to relieve that bordem." The three looked at each other and came to one conclusion. A bored Naruto was never a good thing. "But hey, I just noticed something. The River Styx cirlces this place nine times right?" A nod. "Well know you can say you survived the Mythical Nine Circles of hell!"

"Heh, and all you had to suffer through was that song." Charon chimed in.

Looking around as they got to land, they saw craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than Percy was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise." He counted the golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

As they tracked along the beaten path with the other dead people, they wondered what was in store for them. They wonder what the true entrance would be like. The Pearly Gates or a big black portcullis, or something like that. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but they couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"Wow, even in death people want to take the easy and quick way." Naruto commented, a bit surprised.

"Right." Percy replied before asking Annabeth, "so which kiosk do you think?"

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?" asked a surprised Percy.

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"Yeah, but talk about a crash course in the family business." Naruto muttered.

"But not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look."

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah." Percy did remember now. They had seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff.

Naruto glared at the spirit. "Greedy Bastard."

"What're they doing to him?" Percy asked.

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal

attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

Percy shivered a bit and then sweatdropped when Naruto chuckled evilly. "I could give them some new material."

"Riiight." Percy comment. "But if the guy was a preacher, and he believes in a different hell..."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er, persistent, that way."

As they made their way closer the kiosks, the howling kept getting louder and louder. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground but they could not figure out where it was coming from.

Then, about fifty feet in front of them, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

They could not see it at first because of the transparency, but it had moved and that brought out what it looked like.

By that time however, their jaws where on the floor. "He's a Rottweiler."

"Heh, I guess dad's got good taste in guard dogs then." Naruto smirked after he recovered. The dog was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, mostly invisible, and had three heads.

The dead walked right up to him—no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

"I guess that means we are on the right track." Naruto commented.

The dog's middle head craned toward the four. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," Percy said, a bit nervous

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to Naruto and Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. Percy had never heard her voice sound quite so small. "A plan."

As they moved closer to the giant three headed dog, the middle head lowered down to them before sniffing and the barking loudly. "Can you understand it?" Percy asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

"That's nice to know." Naruto deadpanned.

"Hey, Big Fella," Percy called out as he took a stick out of his pack, which was a part of the bedpost from Crusty's place. "I bet they don't play with you much."

_"GROWWWLLLL!"_

"Good boy," Percy said weakly. The dog's middle head watched as Percy swung the thing around, the other two heads looking down at the boy, it attention on him and not the dead. He had the dog's undivided attention and they could not figure out if that was a good thing. "Fetch!" Percy threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. They heard it go _ker-sploosh _in the River Styx.

Naruto sighed as he held the bridge of his nose. Cerberus glare, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well ... he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

_Uh-oh_, Percy thought.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

"I ain't runnin'!" declared Naruto as he got ready for a fight.

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before they could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!" Cerberus looked as stunned as the boys were. All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated. "Sit!" Annabeth called again.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires. Naruto winced at that.

Annabeth said, "Good boy!" She threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it. She turned toward us. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."

Percy said, "But—"

"Now.'" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

Grover and Percy inched forward warily and Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!" Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you?" Percy asked Annabeth as they passed her, never noticing Naruto was just standing there.

"I know what I'm doing, Percy," she muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure..." As soon as the panic stricken Percy and Grover made their way to the other side of the giant dog by going under him, they noticed that Naruto was still behind Annabeth.

Annabeth said, "Good dog!" Though she knew there was no room for another trick. That is when Naruto piped up.

Naruto grabbed the ball from Annabeth's hand, making the giant dog turn all three of it heads to the boy. "Annabeth, go." He said with a blank face as he stared at the three head. Just looking at the blond ninja, she knew there was no room for argument, so she obeyed and quickly made her way to the other two boys.

Cerberus stared down at Naruto for a while, which made his friends sweat. A moment later, Naruto smiled softly. "Hey boy, would you let me and my friends pass to see dad?"

Three sets of eyes blinked rapidly before all three heads lowered themselves down to the blond and sniffed. Their eyes widened, now recognizing the boy's scent. That is when his friends looked wide eyed as all three heads licked Naruto, covering the boy in slobber. His eye twitching madly at this point, he let out an "Eww!" before he looked back at the dog as it seemed happy now. "I would take that as a yes?"

Another loud bark was his confirmation. Naruto smiled as he made a cross sign with his hands. "Thanks boy, and just to show my respects, I will have some of my clones play with you a for a bit, that ok?"

The giant dog was now hopping up and down, waging his tail, which surprisingly did not catch the trio on the other side. Naruto preformed the jutsu and about ten of him popped into existence. The real Naruto made his way to the others as the dog begun to play.

"That was cool but weird as well." Percy replied with a shocked face as he look from Annabeth to the slimy Naruto. "How did you two do that?"

"Obedience school," Annabeth said with some tears in her eyes surprisingly. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman..."

"Well….I honestly just winged it." Naruto said with a shrugged, which got him a whack on the back of his head thanks to Annabeth. "Hey!"

"Never mind that," Grover said as he tugged on Percy's shirt. "Come on!" Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!" That made Cerberus look at tthem and bark before one of the clones got his attention again.

They burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld. A few minutes later, the four were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover told him. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite! We were just lucky Naruto and Annabeth improvised. "

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Annabeth wipe a tear away from her eyes. He choose to ignoring in favor of who he saw in front of them as they started move on again after some ghosts passed by. "Hello Naruto."

There, in front of the group was an old man in in some odd red and white robes. "O-old man Hokage?"

**There, I hope you all liked that chapter. Review.**


	19. Truths and the Bolt

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 19**

**I should have checked my email before I posted the last chapter. A friend of mine gave me an awesome song that I could have used instead of This is Halloween. It is called Land of the Dead by Voltaire.**

"Wait…who?" Annabeth asked Percy in an octave above a whisper.

"Oh the man Naruto talked very highly about." Grover commented.

"Yeah, the old man that Naruto basically considered his grandfather in all but blood and then died at the hands of some guy Naruto hates. Orochimaru or something like that." Percy stated.

"O-old man, what are you doing here!"Naruto asked loudly.

Sarutobi chuckled and said, "I work here Naruto-kun. I patrol this place with the ghouls, though they are not that talkative." He paused at their shocked looks. "Don't worry, I know why you are here and I am not here to stop you."

"Then why are you here, if I may ask." Annabeth cut in.

"To let Naruto in on a little truth." The former Third Hokage replied. "Now, I guess I should start with the sealing of the Kyuubi. When your father came to the Elemental Countries, He left behind a lot of his God like power. That did not stop him from becoming the most powerful in the land, especially with the Flying Thunder God jutsu that he created."

Naruto nodded, seeing that his father would have a unfair advantage if he used his god powers. The old man continued. "So when the Kyuubi did attack, he was at a major disadvantage. So, he created a sealing jutsu called the Death Reaper Seal that gave him back his power, but it would kill off his human persona and send him back to this world. Now, when I used that technique on Orochimaru's arms and the First and Second Hokages, I did not gain his powers, I just summoned your father to our world and he helped me out, but I did because that jutsu was meant to kill the person using it."

"Ok…so how did you get here though?" Grover asked.

"Oh, once I was a spirit, Minato, or as you call him Hades, told me the truth and asked if I could help him back in his world. I agreed and he took me before our world's Shinigami arrived, only, I realized soon after, I only knew two people on this side. Your father and your mother."

"WHAT?" shouted Naruto. "My mom is alive?"

"Yes, but I am iffy on the details on how she is, you will have ask you father about it yourself."

"Alright then, but what do you mean you only know two people here?" asked Naruto.

"There are two afterlives, this one and ours back home, but since Minato and the Shinigami are good friends, I am able to see my wife sometimes." Sarutobi said with a sad smile. "But enough about me, you all should get going. You do have a mission to complete after all."

As the old man turned to leave, Naruto called out, "Wait! Will I ever be able to see you again?"

"Of course Naruto, you are after all the Prince of the Underworld." The old man chuckled.

"The what?"

"You are the first born, so that makes you this place's Prince." Sarutobi replied cryptically as he walked away, but then stopped and looked Naruto dead in the eye. "Good Luck Naruto, I know the Will of Fire burns brightly with in you." With that, the old man just disappeared from view.

"I wonder what he meant my first born." Annabeth pondered.

"Me too, but I am more interested in this Will of Fire." Grover commented.

As they begun to walk again, Naruto decided to enlighten them. "It is just the saying the ninja of our village say. I will is strongest in the ninja lands as we are the strongest village in the Elemental Countries."

"Sweet!" Percy chirped. When they rounded a corner, the four of them stopped to gawk at the Fields of Asphodel.

Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.

Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity had gone out, and there was no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.

If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees—or poplars as Grover had told them—grew in clumps here and there.

The cavern ceiling was so high above them it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. They really hoped that the sharp stones did not fall on them as they made their through. Of course, some had already fallen, the dead didn't really have to worry about them.

They tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls.

Percy couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They came up to them and spoke, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize the four can't understand them, they frowned and moved away. Naruto was kind of sad that no one from the Elemental Countries was there.

Grover kind of realized that the dead weren't scary, they were just sad.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.

To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, they could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. They could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. There were other thing too, much worse that just scared the living crap out of the kids.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls—a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. They could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said, looking to the boys who were eyeing the place with happy faces.. "That's the place for heroes."

Naruto frowned as he observed more of the place. There weren't many people there, which meant not a lot of people did a whole lot of good during their lives.

As they left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields, it got darker. The colors faded from their clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.

After a few miles of walking, they began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. Percy gulped while Naruto narrowed his eyes, he figured the old hags were waiting for them.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

"We'll be okay." Percy said as he looked to Naruto for encouragement.

"Yeah. "Naruto said as he caught the look. "No sweat, I am sure they won't hurt royalty or his entourage."

The three looked to his oddly before Grover chuckled nervously as he remembered they encountered the Furies. "Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance ..."

"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.

Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass. Naruto quirked at eyebrow.

"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."

"But I didn't—" He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from them. "Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one one! Help!"

"A crap!" Naruto shouted as he and the others got over their shock and went after the goat boy. "Those shoes are cursed or something! We gotta get them off!"

"Grover! Untie the shoes!" Annabeth cried as they chased after him.

It was a smart idea, but it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feet first at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.

They kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.

It seemed that Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

"Ok, this is just getting annoying." Naruto commented.

The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. While Annabeth and Percy had to sprint up the hill, Naruto was not having any trouble as he was ninja jumping up the whole way. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, two which they noticed that they had entered a tunnel of some sort. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.

"Grover!" Percy yelled, his voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"What?" The goat boy yelled back. He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.

The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on their arms bristled. It smelled evil down here and that brought unhappy images to their eyes.

Percy's eyes widened when he saw what was up ahead and stopped dead in his tracks. The ninja saw this too and almost tripped over his own feet.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at his wrist.

"But that's—"

"I know!" she shouted. "The place you two described in your dreams! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." She was right, of course. Grover's predicament got the boy moving again.

He was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we could possibly get to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves.

The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.

The goat boy was ten feet away from the giant hole in the ground when Naruto caught the boy's arms. Grover looked at the blond in shock. "Heh, don't count on ever going down there, Grover!" Naruto said as Percy and Annabeth helped him pull Grover back over the slope and away from the hole. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around them angrily and kicked their heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

"Tch….stupid demonic shoe." Naruto growled as he rubbed his head as Percy and Annabeth fell on their asses, exhausted from their chase.

Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified. "I don't know how ..." he panted. "I didn't..."

"Wait! Listen." Percy said, getting back up, even though his legs felt like lead and his backpack felt like someone had put a bunch of rocks in it.

The boy heard something—a deep whisper in the darkness. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he begun to hear it as well.

Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place—" however, Percy shushed her, trying to figure out what the noise was.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming from the pit. Grover sat up. "Wh—what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too, now. They could see it as her eyes widened. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."

Percy uncapped his sword, ready for anything that came their way as Naruto made his charms grow, revealing his own swords, Fear and Destruction. At the reveal of the swords, the voice hesitated for moment before resuming it chanting.

The words that were being spoken seemed to be very old, a lot older than Greek. "Magic." Percy murmured.

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, I agree." Naruto replied, "I don't want to deal with whatever is coming for us.

They dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. For some reason, Percy was having a very hard time. He was getting more tired and his backpack seemed to be getting heavier.

The voice got louder and angrier behind them, so they ran for it.

Not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at their backs backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, they lost their footing and felt like where being dragged in. If they'd been any closer to the edge, they would've been sucked in.

They kept struggling forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy they'd gotten away.

"What was that?" Grover panted, when they had collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"

Annabeth got a look on her face that seemed to scare Percy, but Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Besides that was Tartarus, if could have been anything." He said as his sword returned to their charm forms on his bracelets.

Percy capped his sword and put the pen back in his pocket. "Let's keep going." Perrcy looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"

The poor guy swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway." He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and Percy were. Naruto was scared but he wouldn't show it. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. Even Echidna hadn't given them that feeling. Turning their backs to the pit, they were almost relieved to be going to Hades' Palace.

Almost.

The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.

Up close, they saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times—an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls—but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. Percy wondered if these were prophecies come true.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues— petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs—all smiling grotesquely.

In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."

"I am sorry but this place looks like a stoner's nightmare." Naruto deadpanned as he observed it all as they kept moving at Annabeth's orders. Of course they understood why they needed to leave. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. They wanted to grab a bit to eat, but they knew the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and they would never be able to leave. Percy pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one.

They walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. Which made sense, since there was not forgiving rain down here.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms; which Naruto resisted the urge to mess with like tourist do, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered the four, but their hollow eye sockets followed them as the kids walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at them, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

Naruto gained a creepy smile as his hair shadowed his face. "Yeah, I guess dad did do something smart, all he has to do is leave his guards at the door to blow away the annoyances!" He chuckled darkly after that before he looked at the others to see them look at him fearfully. "What? Is their some creature stuck of my face?"

Annabeth shook her head at her fellow blond's clueless and creepy behavior. 'Come on…let's just get in there." She said, not noticing Percy's discomfort because of his really heavy backpack.

The boy wanted to see what had made his backpack feel like someone had put a bowling ball in it, but now was not the time. "Well, guys," Percy said. "I suppose we should ... knock?"

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means _entrez-vous_," Annabeth said.

Sighing Naruto muttered, "Time to face the music."

The room inside looked just like in the two boys' dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied and he looked very out of place for the room. His attire and form looked like that of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Even though he looked like that at the moment, they got the feeling that he was the one who should be giving orders. It was an aura like Ares' but this one was kind of scary.

"Yo!" Was his very weird reply that echoed in the room. He got up from his thrown and begun walking right up to them. Naruto decided he was meet him a few feet from his friends with a smile on his face.

"Nice to finally see you dad!" Naruto said with good nature.

"Yes, this is a good family reunion, though it is not the best since Kushina and Persephone are not here at the moment." He sighed at that. "Persephone wanted your mom to meet her mom."

"Well, it is summer after all." Naruto replied and his three friends were shocked and were sweat dropping at the very odd scene in front of them.

"And so it is." Minato/Hades replied as he looked at his son with pride. "You really have grown in a fine young man like your mother predicted. And I am proud that you are still in good health, mentally and physically, even throughout all the torment of the village."

Percy grimaced at that, he knew that something bad was going to happen thanks to that comment. He was proved correct as Naruto just kept on smiling before he punched the man in the stomach, making Minato/Hades double over in shock more than pain. Annabeth and Grover paled at that, this was not good at all and Grover was being to painc that they would never get out alive!

"It is only because of my goofy nature and the will of fire that I survived my younger years. Or else I could have ended up like Gaara, killing people to prove that I exist!" He growled out before his face went back into a real smile and not a fake smile like before. "But I forgive you, you have a village to save after all."

Minato/Hades coughed a bit as he backed up and smile a bit. "I am glad for that." He said before walking back to his thrown, his form shifting into his other form. "Now I heard from Sarutobi that you would like to know what happened to get your mom over here."

His new form was completely different than his Minato form. He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

This brought a shocked look to Naruto's face, never actually seeing the man like this before. However, his three companion just looked scared and nervous.

"Your mother was once a Jinchuriki was well, thanks to her special chakra that runs in the Uzumaki line. Though I have a feeling that it is Poseidon's handy work." He muttered at the end. "and because of that, a woman named Mito Uzumaki was able to hold the Kyuubi before her."

"Who?' Naruto interrupted, thinking that name sounded familiar. Annabeth was sweating now, Naruto was lucky to be alive.

"Oh uh…the First Hokage's wife." Hades replied, making Naruto look like a fish. "Anyway, after your birth, your mother was very weak and that weakened the seal. A man named Madara Uchiha appeared and took you, threatening to kill you if I didn't do as he said. However, I would have no one that and rushed him. After I got you away from him, he appeared next to Kushina and released the Kyuubi. Now normally, that would kill the host, but since she was an Uzumaki, her other power was long life, so she barely survived and was at death's door. Naturally the Shinigami was already there, waiting for her to die. I made a deal with him, after I convinced him that I was in fact me, to let me make her immortal and send her to my world. The rest you know."

Naruto sighed as he absorbed it all. It was after all, a lot to take in.

"Anyway, I am sure there is another reason for you all to come way down here, and to come down here, you and the son of Poseidon are very brave to do so, along with your other two friends." Hades commented with a frown on his face. An item of his was stole as well.

"Um….Lord and Uncle." Percy began, clearly affected by the man's aura while Naruto wasn't; who he knew disregarded all signs of authority anyway. "I come with two requests."

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of Percy wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough.

Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet." Naruto frowned at that. Obveously something was stolen here as well and everyone his blaming him and Percy, but him being the son of Hades, he did not get blame this time.

Percy nervously glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. He wished Queen Persephone were here. He recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons. He was not sure what Naruto's mom did for the guy, but she too had a throne that looked like a red maelstrom with some gold here and there.

Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded him in the back.

"Lord Hades," Percy said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad." commented Grover.

"And besides, with all the dead people here, I am sure you don't really need any more." deadpanned Naruto.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," Percy said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

"Ok stop, what do ya mean? The water boy hasn't done anything!" Naruto interrupted.

"What exactly have I done?" Percy asked in curiosity

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

Percy wanted to say something but Naruto beat him to the punch. "Well, these guys don't look like peace activists." He deadpanned, jutting his thumb at all the undead soldiers, while Annabeth gave him a 'Are you fucking nuts' look. Hades just looked dumbly at his son.

"You are the Lord of the Dead," Percy said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

"Well..."

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"

Percy wanted to answer him but Hades was now on a roll.

"More security ghouls and Sarutobi is going crazy out there," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Charon wants a pay raise," Percy blurted, just remembering the fact, although, he wished he hadn't

"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."

"But you took Zeus's master bolt."

"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."

"His plan?"

"_You_ were the thief on the winter solstice," he said. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, You took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

"But ..." Annabeth spoke. Percy could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord

Hades, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero—coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt—to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?" He paused for a moment to look at Naruto and said, "And you came here with my son so you could get here! I swear! There was a reason that I went to the Elemental Countries!" he pounded on the arm rest, it made him look like a giant freaking baby.

"No!" Percy said. "Poseidon didn't—I didn't—"

"I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."

"You didn't try to stop us? But—"

"Wait!" Naruto interrupted, seeing where this was going and he did not like it. "I was will him during the winter solstice and we did not now about our heritage! So he could not have done it!"

"Naruto, I know he is your friend and your urge to protect him is commendable but I want my helm returned NOW, or I will stop death!" Hades shouted.

"That is my counterproposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson—your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.

At this point, Percy did not look terrified, which shocked Naruto, bu the looked very angry, he was so sick of being accused all the time!

"You're as bad as Zeus," I said. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"

"Of course," Hades said.

"And the other monsters?"

Hades curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you—I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"

"Easily?" both Naruto and Percy blinked.

"Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helm. I came for the master bolt."

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then." Hades commanded and Percy felt dread. Was that why that pack was so heavy?

Percy slung it off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"Oh man…that is so not good." Naruto nervously said.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "How—"

"I—I don't know. I don't understand."

"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helm. Where is it?"

While Percy was having a panic attack, Naruto looked at the bolt with annoyance. "Wait a second; the bolt is the backpack that Ares gave us." Naruto said catching the interest of his father. "Could he be framing us?"

"Lord Hades, wait," Percy said, ignoring what Naruto said for the moment. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roared.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds's face grinned at Percy eagerly and flicked her whip.

"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come—I know the _real _reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for _her_."

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded in front of the water boy, and what was reveal was his mother, frozen in time. She looked like she had when the Minotaur caught her and tried to squeeze her to death.

_Ok, even I think that is cruel._ Naruto thought with a glare.

"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

Percy knew he did not have the Helm of Darkness and neither did his friends, that much he knew. The pearls in his pocket caught his attention and he knew they had to use them. They were so not ready for this place. "Ah, the pearls," Hades said, which made the water boy's blood freeze. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson." Like he was hypnotized, Percy took them out.

"Only four," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person.

Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."

"We were tricked," Pecy told them as their faces looked very grim. "Set up."

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"

"I don't know yet," Percy said. "But I intend to ask."

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled before Naruto could talk again.

"Percy." Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt,"

"I know that."

"Leave me here," he said. "Use the forth pearl on your mom."

"Or you can leave me here." Naruto offered.

"No!"

"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."

"Yeah and I am the guy's kid, what can he do to me?" Naruto said while Percy and Annabeth looked worried.

"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You guys go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Naruto also has to protect him because he is good at it. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."

"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.

"Hey, I am not leaving all the glory to you guys." Naruto said.

"Stop it, all of you!" Percy shouted. They have been with him for so long and he was not going to abandon them! He remembered Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden with Naruto's ninja like help and Annabeth and Naruto working together to save them from Cerberus; they had survived Hephaestus's Waterland ride, the St. Louis Arch, the Lotus Casino. He had spent the whole way, fretting that one of them would betray him but he knew his friends wouldn't do that. They had done nothing but save him and now it was his turn.

Naruto saw the look in the boy's eyes and smiled sadly. This was a true team, that was for sure.

"I know what to do," Percy said. "Take these." He handed them each a pearl.

Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."

However, Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head and said, "Remember the prophecy."

Percy turned and faced his mother. He desperately wanted to sacrifice himself and use the last pearl on her, but he knew what she would say. She would never allow it. He had to get the bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. He and Naruto had to stop the war. She would never forgive him if he saved her instead. He thought about the prophecy made at Half-Blood Hill that Naruto just mentioned, what seemed like a million years ago. _You will fail to save what matters most in the end._

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling ... ?"

"I'll find your helm, Uncle," Percy told him, which made Naruto smirk at his dad's look. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."

"Do not defy me—"

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not—"

Percy shouted, "Now, guys!"

They smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened. Naruto didn't seem to like that and threw a three pronged at the wall for just in case.

Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"

The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.

Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at their feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. They were each encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.

Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and the son of Poseidon knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A.

"Look up.'" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

Looking up they were nearing the sharp stalactites and they felt like the bubbles were going to pop and they were be skewered.

"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.

"I don't think you do!" Percy shouted back.

They screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.

Naruto wondered if they were dead but they couldn't be as he finally noticed where they were. They were in the ocean! Then the bubbles popped and he grimaced at that, they were pretty face in. So he decided to do a jutsu. **"Water Style: Water Rocket!"** he voiced from underwater, which caught Percy's attention before he add his own power to the mix as they shot through the water and back to the surface.

The exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!" Luckily he didn't see the rocket made out of water dissolve back into the ocean.

They made their way over to a buoy…well Percy hulled Annabeth and Naruto hulled Grover over to the buoy. A curious shark was circling them, a great white about eleven feet long. It attention however was fixed on the blond ninja. Percy scowled and said, "Beat it!" The shark turned and raced away.

The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from them as fast as he could.

In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after the water boy right now.

They didn't have to look at a clock to see it was the last and day and they needed to talk to Zeus, who was on the other side of the continent, before a war started.

"Well….this will be interesting." commented Naruto.

**Hope you all liked.**

**Review!**


	20. Double Team on the God of War!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 20**

Hades sat back down in his throne and sighed. He had blown his top again and who know what happened in the world above. He sighed again. He hoped his son forgave him, which was another thing to be pissed off at him about. He then noticed something on the wall and ordered one of his undead to go and fetch it.

When the undead soldier gave it to him, his face lit up and he laughed, scaring his undead soldiers. "So he is able to use that jutsu!"

XXX

A Coast Guard boat picked up the four kids, but they were too busy to keep them for long, or to wonder how four kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.

They dropped the four off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around their shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.

Their clothes were sopping wet, even Percy's. Percy had no shoes because he gave them to Grover, hoping no one saw the goat boy's hooves.

After reaching dry land, they stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful. Percy was straining with the heavy bolt in his backpack, but Naruto saw the sad look on the boy's face. The blond put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way—"

"It was a trick," Percy said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," she warned.

"You get it, don't you?"

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody—"

"Percy ..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry..."

Percy tried to ignore her, not wanting to think about that. "The prophecy was right," Percy said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned."

"Yeah, but my dad wasn't the one who turned, he got robbed as well." Naruto commented.

Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

Percy stopped in his tracks and looked down the beach. "Gee, let me think."

Naruto just smacked his head. "Yeah, that figures."

There he was, waiting for us, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."

"Glad you have so much faith in us." Naruto mumbled.

"You tricked me," Percy said. _"You _stole the helm and the master bolt."

Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."

"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice." Percy asked.

_No, I don't think she would stoop that low._ Naruto thought. _No, Luke?_ He quickly glanced at Annabeth._ I really hope it was not him._

The idea seemed to amuse Ares. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at _him. _And Hades is still looking for this ..." From his pocket he took out a ski cap—the kind bank robbers wear—and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

"No way! " said a shocked Naruto.

"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

"Not when it turns out to be a huge freakin' world war." deadpanned Naruto.

"You gave me the backpack in Denver," Percy said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."

"Yes and no," Ares said. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?"

Naruto rose an eyebrow at that. _I bet it is some sort of seal._

"Anyway," Ares continued, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades... Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way—no loss. I still had the weapon."

"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" Percy said. "Why send it to Hades?"

"Yeah." Naruto laughed. "Like you said, you got mail, no one would notice."

Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah ... with that kind of firepower ..." He held the trance for one second ... two seconds...

Percy exchanged nervous looks with Annabeth while Naruto narrowed his eyes in recognition. This seemed similar to him when he had the Kyuubi in him. What was Ares' excuse?

Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing."

"That is a load of shit." Naruto said. "Sending Zeus' toy of mass destruction was not even your idea."

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"You didn't order the theft," Percy guessed. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"

Naruto rose an eyebrow and smirked. Gotcha. "That made no sense man, we said nothing about dreams." That mean that Ares was not in full control and who ever was behind the scene was doing it through dreams.

Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kids. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to the two of you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at them with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

"Fight me yourself, Ares." Percy said as he stepped out into the water.

"Hey, not without me, you don't." Naruto said, itching for a fight. So he stepped onto the water.

Ares laughed, but Percy heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, brat, running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."

"You never know until you try, eh Ares." Naruto said with a smirk. "Besides, those were tactical retreats. You of all people should know who useful they are in war, Ares."

Percy smirked at the encouragement and Naruto's taunt to the man, "Scared?"

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

Annabeth said, "Percy, Naruto, run!"

The giant boar charged.

Percy glared at the beast while Naruto smirked. Percy was done running. They sidestepped the beast as they summoned their swords. Percy slashed upwards while Naruto slashed downwards. A flash of metal and they severed the beast's tusks. The disoriented pig charged into the sea.

Percy shouted, "Wave!" Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.

Naruto blinked at what happened before he smiled. "Sweet."

They turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight us now?" Percy asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into—"

"A cockroach," Percy said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

"If we lose, turn us into anything you want. Take the bolt. If we win, the helm and the bolt are ours and you have to go away." Percy dealed, gaining a knowing look from his blond partner.

Ares sneered. He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

The boys flashed their swords.

"That's cool, dead boys," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Percy, Naruto," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"He's a coward," Percy told her.

Naruto smiled at the girl, "Don't so much. We got this." He then activated the seals on his clothes and his ANBU gear formed. "I got his back if anything goes wrong."

Annabeth still looked nervous at that, so she walked up to the water boy and put her necklace on him. "Wear this, at least. For luck." The necklace had five years' worth of year round Camp Half Blood in it. "Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

"Ahem" Naruto sounded but smirked at the red faced Percy.

Annabeth turned to her fellow blond and smirked. "Do you really need something from me to win?"

"Naw, I was just messin' with ya." Naruto with a smile.

"Good, but with Athena, Posiedon, and Hades together, nothing can go wrong." Annabeth said with conviction.

"And take this," Grover said. He handed Percy a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. He gave Naruto his reed pipes for the moment. "The satyrs stand behind you." The boys looked grateful at the Satyr.

"You all done saying good-bye?" asked an annoyed Ares, his eye twitching because he thought they forgot he was still there. Ares came toward the two, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kids. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

_A smaller ego for one._ Percy thought but didn't say anything as he got ready for battle. He looked at the water around him, think back to his time in Denver.

Naruto smirked, this was going to be fun! Now that might sound like Anko but he didn't care, he had ninja skills to back him up.

The boys dove to the side as Ares' huge blade came down where they used to be. The water fought for Percy as he was catapulted into the air and slashed down at the man, making Naruto think that the water boy had ninja jumped.

But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt. He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."

"Like that, well taste my blades!" Naruto said as he rushed the man. He brought his left sword into a horizontal slash, which was block by the man's large sword. His right sword was deflected away by the small knife that the man carried with him. Smirking again, Naruto kept swinging and his swords looked like they was connected at the hilts, however, Ares blocked every strike that was thrown his way until he kicked Naruto away from him. "Not bad either."

"Heh, never underestimate me." Naruto said as he held his stomach._ Still that was full of strength._

That was whe Percy rushed in and slashed at the man again. Ares blocked before he slashed, making Percy sidestep the attack. That sent Percy back onto dry land. When he tried get back in the water, Ares blocked him, knowing what the boy needed.

_Get in close, _Luke had told Percy once, back in their sword class. _When you've got the shorter_

_blade, get in close._

Percy stepped inside with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked his blade out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. Percy went airborne—twenty, maybe thirty feet. he would've broken his back if he hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

Naruto cursed under his breath, the cops ruined everything. He looked at Percy to see the boy breathing heavily. So he rushed back into the fight,, ignoring the men in blue.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voice: "Looks like those kids from TV ... what the heck ..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

Percy recovered and entered the battled. Naruto jumped high into the air and sent an axe kick to the side of Ares' head, who block it with his arm. Naruto narrowly dodged the incoming knife to the leg. Percy also had to dodge the large blade as it came down on the sand.

Both boys rushed in again, after Percy regained his sword when it flew out of his hands, but was blocked yet again. That made Naruto growl. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this jerk had the Sharingan, but with his entire body as the eye. Shakeing his head, they made their way back to the water.

"Admit it, brats," Ares said. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."

In the distance, they heard more sirens and cursed their luck, they needed end this soon. Percy stepped further in the water, but Ares was quick, the tip of his blade ripped Percy's sleeve and grazed his forearm. The man sent an attack at Naruto as well and the blond received a knife stab to the arm that penetrated the ANBU armor.

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"

Gun? Percy concentrated on the man's weapon and it seemed to flicker from between a sword to a gun. Naruto, just assumed that was what the mist made the idiots see.

Ares turned to glare at ther spectators, which gave the boys a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on the fighters. "This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone."

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little heroes. Let's add you to the barbecue."

"Elemental attacks, huh?" Naruto said as he blocked a swing from Ares, letting Percy get back and get an idea.

Jumped back to Percy's position, Naruto noticed the boy's energy in the water, churning it up. Naruto smirked and the boy's nodded to each other. They were both tired and this was going to be it. Naruto grimaced though, his arms felt like jelly thanks to Ares' strength.

Percy held the water back like he did in Denver when he and Annabeth needed to get out of the Tunnel of Love ride. Like Annabeth told him, he was holding back the pressure until the right moment. When the man was right next to them and had no time to dodge anything, Percy let loose the torrent of water.

A six-foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. The boys mirror each other perfectly somehow as they landed behind the man. The feinted their swords at Ares head, making the man bring his sword up to block the attacks, but since he was disoriented from the water attack, he didn't anticipate the trick. They changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed their bldes straight down into the water, sending the point through each of the god's heels. However, Naruto decided to be bolder as he ripped the blade out and sent a kick to the man's face. "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"

The roar that followed made Hades's earthquake look like a minor event. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide.

Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from the gashes in the war god's boots and from the man's nose. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

He limped toward them, muttering ancient Greek curses. Something stopped him.

It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making the boys feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

Police cars were burning behind them. The crowd of spectators had fled. Annabeth and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.

Ares lowered his sword.

"You have made an enemy, godlings," he told them. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki. Beware."

Naruto smirked warily, "Heh, don't be a sore loser man. After all, all's fair in love and war." That made everyone look at the blond like he was nuts.

Smirking, Ares' body began to glow.

'''Percy, Naruto!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't watch!"

They turned away as the god Ares revealed his true irnmortal form. They somehow knew that if they looked, they would disintegrate into ashes.

The light died.

When they looked back, the body was Ares was gone. They had own…for now.

The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. Naruto decided to pick it up as they made their way back to shore to meet with their friends.

But before they got there, they heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of the two boys.

The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed, as if she'd been planning to have Percy for supper, but had decided he might give her indigestion.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"

"What do you think we have been trying to prove." Naruto said as he tossed the helm to her, which she caught in surprise.

"Return that to Lord Hades," Percy said. "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."

"Yeah and please make sure Dad hasn't done anything stupid since we left." Naruto commented.

She hesitated, than ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Percy

Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again ..." She cackled before turning to Naruto and bowed. "I am sorry we went after your friends young master, but the same goes for you. Oh and you father wanted to us to tell you that you were welcome in the Underworld at any time."

Naruto smiled. "Good, he is not mad at me." He then bowed as well, "Well, I thank you as well my three grannies." He said, getting a gasp from Annabeth and Grover. She smirked before she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

The two boys joined Grover and Annabeth, who were staring at them in amazement.

Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

"Glad ya like it." Naruto said as he tossed him back his reed pipes.

Percy smiled but he was dog tired and he didn't feel scared at all. "Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" They both nodded uneasily.

"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.

"Well whatever it was, it saved out asses." Naruto commented with a nervous chuckle.

Percy reclaimed his backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still there. Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.

As if reading his thoughts, Naruto commented, "Like t said before, it is Zeus' toy of mass destruction. A stupid war over a freakin' weapon. Now we just need to get back to New York."

"By tonight." Percy amended.

"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we—"

"Fly." Dead panned both Naruto and Percy.

She stared at them. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"Ah, but that is the point." Naruto cut in. "He wouldn't do that since we have the bolt and wouldn't risk destroying the world."

"Yeah, what Naruto said." Percy replied, "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."

"Heh, I'll get the plane tickets!" Naruto said as they got the hell of out there.

**XXX**

**Yeah, sorry for the long wait everyone. Good news tho, only two chapter left!**

**Review!**


	21. Fun in Olympus!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 21**

The Mist that Chiron talked about really did screw up a normal human's perception of all the 'mythical' things that go on in the world. Seriously, Percy beat himself up about the whole way back to New York. But before that, they had a little fun with the reporters, who told them what they thought had happened.

According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake.

This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares) was the same man who had abducted Percy, Naruto, and two other adolescents in New York and brought them across country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Percy Jackson and Naruto Uzuamki weren't international criminals after all. Percyhad caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from their captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus). The crazy man had caused the explosion in the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that.

That had cleared Naruto's name because they blamed Ares for the underwater explosion as well, taking that a distraction for their escape, but they could explain how Naruto survived, but the explosion had kicked up so much water that it broke Naruto's fall, and it splashed out the fire on Naruto's back, which they saw as normal fire. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police.

Finally, brave Percy Jackson , thanks to the supposed encouragement from Naruto Uzuamki, had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Naruto had stolen the man's knives to defend himself against man, helping Percy fight off their captor. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Percy Jackson and his three friends were safely in police custody.

The reporters fed them this whole story and they just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted, which wasn't hard, and played victimized kids for the cameras.

"All I want," Percy said, choking back my tears, "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." The police and reporters were so moved that they passed around the hat and raised money for three tickets on the next plane to New York.

Naruto had to hold in his laughter at that. Percy was starting to learn things from him and he was proud. However, he kept on that sad look while on the inside, he was dieing.

After that, Percy said they needed to get back to New York and all the TV reporters, much to Naruto's annoyance, provided them with the money to get airplane tickets. Seriously, was Naruto ever going to use his money for this quest? Probably not.

They knew they had to other choice but to go on an air plane since they did not have the time to travel back by car or train for that matter. However, knowing that Zeus was watching them, Percy had a hard time deciding whether to board the plane or not. Naruto, however, did not care and just boarded the plane like it was no big deal.

While the blond demi god was watching the inflight movie, heard Percy, who was seated behind him, silently freaking out. He sighed and looked to either side of him where Annabeth and Grover were in the same row as him but they were separated by two other people that were looking at him and only him.

"uh, can I help you two?"

"Oh sis, he finally noticed we were looking at him," said the male, who wore a white business suit.

The female smiled. "I see that brother." She had a blue business suit.

"Uh, you still didn't answer my question." Naruto said, a bit irritated. "And who are you anyway."

The male smiled brightly. "I am known as Aether."

"And I am Hemera." The woman said. "And you should know by now that mom wants us siblings to help you out." She said as the two put a hand on each of his shoulders, making him glow for a moment, before they were gone, no evidence they were ever there.

However, the looks Annabeth and Grover gave him were freaking him out. "What?"

"Do you know who those two were?" Annabeth asked seriously.

"Uh, they said their names were Aether and Hemera."

Grover slapped his forehead. "No! They were Aether, the Ancient God of the Upper Air. He is literally the air the Gods breathe on Olympus. Then the woman was Hemera, the Goddess of Day!"

Naruto blinked, along with Percy, who was now listening. "Oh, sweet! I good I got to meet more relatives!" The blond cheered, making Percy smiled at his friend's antics and while Annabeth and Grover stared at him, trying to figure the blond out.

XXX

When they touched down, they split up at the taxi company. Percy had convinced Annabeth and Grover to back to the Camp Half Blood and let Chiron know what had happened. They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all they had been through, but Percy felt that he had to do the last part of the quest himself, but Naruto would go back, saying he was in deep like Percy. So they went together. Besides, if things went bad, at least those two would survive to tell Chiron the truth.

So they hopped into a taxi and headed into Manhattan. Thirty minutes, they were through the front doors into the lobby of the Empire State Building

Naruto looked around and whistled, this place had class! "So, how are we supposed to get to Olympus anyway."

Percy shrugged. "I was just going to go up to the front desk and ask to get to the six hundredth floor."

Naruto stared at the water boy for a full minute, no emotion on his face, making Percy nervous. Naruto suddenly smiled. "Eh, sounds good to me. We got no other leads."

As they walked up to the front desk, they must have looked like homeless kids thanks to their ragged looking clothing, but what can you do about that when you are in a hurry. Percy went right up to the guard at the front deck and said, "Six hundredth Floor."

The guard was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front. It must have been good because it took a while for him to look at them. "No such floor, kiddos."

"I need an audience with Zeus." Percy said with serious face.

He gave them a vacant smile. "Sorry?"

"You heard me."

Seeing as this was not going anywhere, Naruto decided to intervene. "Listen, I can tell you know what we are taking about. I could see the recognition in your eyes when Percy asked to see Zeus, so that means you know very well what we want and are a horrible liar because you can think of one."

The guard eyed them for a moment, unnerved by that little speech. Finally he sighed and said, "No appointment, no audience, kiddos. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."

"Oh, I think he'll make an exception." Percy slipped off his backpack and unzipped the top.

The guard looked inside at the metal cylinder, not getting what it was for a few seconds. Then his face went pale. "That isn't..."

"Yes, it is," Percy promised. "You want me take it out and—"

"No! No!" He scrambled out of his seat, fumbled around his desk for a key card, then handed it to Percy. "Insert this in the security slot. Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you two."

Percy did as he told him. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600.

Not hesitating, Naruto slammed his fist on the button and waited…..and waited.

Muzak played. "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."

By now, still nothing and Naruto was getting really annoyed, but before he could voice his thoughts, there was _ding_ and the door slid open. The site almost gave the boys a heart attack.

They were standing on a narrow stone walkway in the middle of the air. Below them was Manhattan, from the height of an airplane. In front of them, white marble steps wound up the spine of a cloud, into the sky.

They could not believe eyes, but their brains told them it was really there. Naruto peered over the clouds to the city below and whistled. "Now that is a long way down."

Percy turned to Naruto and said, "Try not to piss off anyone here, I don't want to be throw off this place." Naruto just smirked as he looked farther.

From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, its summit covered with snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces—a city of mansions— all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes. They could make out an open air market filled with colorful tents, a stone amphitheater built on one side of the mountain, a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other. It was an Ancient Greek city, except it wasn't in ruins. It was new, and clean, and colorful, the way Athens must've looked twenty-five hundred years ago.

Their trip through Olympus was like a daze, like they thought it was a dream. The duo passed some giggling wood nymphs who threw olives at them from their garden. Naruto shocked them by catching them in his mouth. Hawkers in the market offered to sell some ambrosia-on-a-stick, and a new shield, and a genuine glitter-weave replica of the Golden Fleece, as seen on Hephaestus-TV. Speaking of which, some people wanted Naruto and Percy's autograph for their short time on that show.

The nine muses were tuning their instruments for a concert in the park while a small crowd gathered—satyrs and naiads and a bunch of good-looking teenagers who might've been minor gods and goddesses. Nobody seemed worried about an impending civil war. In fact, everybody seemed in a festive mood. Several of them turned to watch the two pass, and whispered to themselves.

They climbed the main road, toward the big palace at the peak. It was a reverse copy of the palace in the Underworld. There, everything had been black and bronze. Here, everything glittered white and silver.

Naruto sadly realized Hades must've built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn't welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he'd built his own Olympus underground. Despite his odd behavior, the man was just oddly bipolar, not a bad guy. Though, Naruto doubted he could convince anyone to let the guy come up once in a while at the moment. Maybe later.

Despite Percy's bad experience with him, he felt a little sorry for the guy. To be banished from this place seemed really unfair. It would make anybody bitter.

Steps led up to a central courtyard. Past that, the throne room. _Room_ really isn't the right word. The place made Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Massive columns rose to a domed ceiling, which was gilded with moving constellations.

Twelve thrones, built for beings the size of Hades, were arranged in an inverted U, just like the cabins at Camp Half-Blood. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. The thrones were empty except for two at the end: the head throne on the right, and the one to its immediate left. Naruto calmly walked toward the two like it was nothing, while Percy was a nervous wreck.

The gods were in giant human form, as Hades had been, but the feeling of looking at them feel like they were they were going to be set on fire.

Zeus, the Lord of the Gods, wore a dark blue pinstriped suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes rainy gray. As they got near him, the air crackled and smelled of ozone.

The god sitting next to him was his brother, without a doubt, but he was dressed very differently. He reminded Percy of a beachcomber from Key West. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black, like Percy's. His face had that same brooding look that had always gotten his son branded a rebel. But his eyes, sea green like his son's, were surrounded by sun-crinkles that told me he smiled a lot, too.

His throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swiveling kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.

The gods weren't moving or speaking, but there was tension in the air, as if they'd just finished an argument. Naruto smirked and decided to break this tension. Percy noticed this, but was to late. Naruto bowed mockingly and said, "Little High Little Low!" The tension was instantly lifted by everyone was staring at him oddly. "Oh come on! Am I really the only on in this room who has seen that movie?" Dead silence. "Apparently so." He said as Percy shook his head.

Percy approached the fisherman's throne and knelt at his feet. "Father." he dared not look up.

Zeus spoke. "Should you not address the master of this house first, boy?" Naruto eyed Percy as he showed some humility and kneeled before the giant Gods. It seemed that Percy was too freaked or overwhelmed to look up.

"Peace, brother," Poseidon finally said. His voice stirred my oldest memories: that warm glow I remembered as a baby, the sensation of this god's hand on my forehead, "The boy defers to his father. This is only right. " He pause for a moment while looking at Naruto. "Though, for a son of Hades, this one is not bad."

"You still claim him then?" Zeus asked, menacingly. "You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath? AND it seems Hades is no better!"

_Oh like you're any better Uncle Zeus._ thought Naruto.

"I have admitted my wrongdoing," Poseidon said. "Now I would hear him speak." Naruto heard Percy gulp at that, he hoped didn't think himself a mistake.

"I have spared the both of them once already," Zeus grumbled. "Daring to fly through my domain ... pah! I should have blasted him out of the sky for his impudence."

"And risk destroying your toy of mass destruction?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow

Zeus' eye twitched at that. "IT IS NOT A TOY!" He boomed.

"No matter." Poseidon said, waving the comment off like it was nothing, but he did want to laugh. "Let us hear my son out, brother."

Zeus grumbled some more. "I shall listen," he decided. "Then I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast these boys down from Olympus. I am already close to doing that to the blond one."

"Perseus," Poseidon said. "Look at me." Percy did as told and was not sure if his father was happy to see him or not since there was no true emotion on the man's face.

"Address Lord Zeus, boy," Poseidon told me. "Tell him your story."

So Percy told Zeus everything, just as it had happened, with Naruto putting in his two cents every now and then. Percy was grateful that his blond friend was able to fill in the missing parts. He took out the metal cylinder, which began sparking in the Sky God's presence, and laid it at his feet.

There was a long silence, broken only by the crackle of the hearth fire.

Zeus opened his palm. The lightning bolt flew into it. As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity, until he was holding what looked more like the classic thunderbolt, a twenty-foot javelin of arcing, hissing energy that made the hairs on my scalp rise.

"I sense the boy tells the truth," Zeus muttered. "But that Ares would do such a thing ... it is most unlike him."

"He is proud and impulsive," Poseidon said. "It runs in the family."

"Lord?" Percy asked.

They both said, "Yes?"

"Ares didn't act alone. Someone else—something else— came up with the idea." Percy stated.

"Yeah, it was like someone Jutsu that was controlling his actions." Naruto stated and the room got quiet again.

"Jutsu?" Zeus asked.

"Yeah, I am from the Elemental Countries, not from here." Naruto said.

Zeus sighed heavily while Poseidon laughed. "That does explain a lot! Time between the two worlds so messed up!"

"Yes and I hear you care not for the Prophecy," Zeus said. "I will hold you two that"

"Right-o." Naruto said, though the two gods were eyeing the boy critically because demi gods from that world were often stronger then this world's.

So they described their dreams, and the feeling they had on the beach, that momentary breath of evil that had seemed to stop the world, and made Ares back off from killing the two.

"In the dreams," Percy said, "the voice told me to bring the bolt to the Underworld. Ares hinted that he'd been having dreams, too. I think he was being used, just as we were, to start a war."

"Yeah, enticed us with our mom's and then with a nightmare to taunt us." Naruto said but growl the ending out, making them wonder what it had been for the shinobi.

"You are accusing Hades, after all?" Zeus asked.

"No," Percy said before Naruto could retort with something that could get them killed. "I mean, Lord Zeus, I've been in the presence of Hades. This feeling on the beach was different. It was the same thing I felt when I got close to that pit. That was the entrance to Tartarus, wasn't it? Something powerful and evil is stirring down there ... something even older than the gods."

"Yeah, I think it was Gramps 'o' Bits." Naruto smartly remarked.

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other. They had a quick, intense discussion in Ancient

Greek, but the only word that they caught of that was _father._ Then Poseidon decided to lighten the mood by laughing and turning to Naruto. "Nice nickname for that man kid!"

However before Naruto could say anything more or Poseidon could argue with his brother anymore, Zeus stood up. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal."

He looked at the boys. His expression softened just a fraction of a degree. "You have done me a service, you two. Few heroes could have accomplished as much."

"We had help, sir," Percy said. "Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase—"

"To show you my thanks, I shall spare your lives. I do not trust you two, Perseus Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki. I do not like what your arrival means for the future of Olympus. But for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live."

"Um ... thank you, sir." Percy said, putting a hand over Naruto's mouth because he knew the blond had a smartass remark.

"Do not presume to fly again. Do not let me find you here when I return. Otherwise you shall taste this bolt. And it shall be your last sensation."

Thunder shook the palace. With a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus was gone.

"Your uncle," Poseidon sighed, "has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theater."

"Tsk, Pre-Madonna." Naruto said with his arms crossed. "It is no wonder why he failed that promise. He is a jerk and I guess most chicks like jerks."

"HA! You're right about that!" Poseidon laughed. "That Starlet was asking for it too!"

"Yeah, you know Aunt Hera, I don't know how you put up with the guy." Naruto said as he turned to a nearby doorway to see the said goddess.

"I couldn't agree most with you Son of Hades, but we are working on it. Come, me and Aphrodite wish to speak with you."

"Ok." Naruto said with a shrug before he turned back to Percy and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll be back, besides, I have a feeling that your dad wants to speak with you…alone." The blond then went after the Goddess.

Once Naruto made his way to the woman, he noticed that she had shrunk down to normal human size and there was another woman beside her. Hera was in a simple white dress that ripples like oil on water when she moved. She also had long chocolate brown hair woven into a braid with gold ribbons. "Naruto, this is Aphrodite. She would like to speak with you as well."

Naruto turned to the other woman a blushed a bit because this was one of the hottest women he had ever seen! Since he had a crush on Thalia, her image was on Aphrodite, but magnified ten times. She was wearing the same thing as Hera.

"Um…hi." Naruto said quietly.

Aphrodite smiled. "Hello Naruto. The reason I asked you here is because I wanted to meet you. Having my blood in you makes you my son as well. Although I may be your grandmother, I wish for you to call me mom."

Naruto smiled goofily. "That means I got four moms." Seeing their questioning looks, he said, "Well, Nyx asked me to call her mom as well. I found out my real mom is still alive and she lives with Hades and I have a feeling that Persephone is going to want me to call her mom as well."

"I see," Aphrodite said with a bright smile. "I am glad that you have my blood in you because if it was just Hades', you would be very different and probably very vengeful towards your home village. Hades' children are very scary when provoked." She paused as if thinking of something. "I want you to live in my cabin instead of the one you brought up from the ground. I really don't want you to be alone, I want you to be happy."

"Thank ma." Naruto said with a smile. Most of Konoha didn't really care for his happiness. Back in Camp Half Blood, he had been happy because people accepted him. "I'll do it until I find any other of Hades' kids. _Like those two in the Casino._

"Fair enough. Now I wish to give you something. My Blessing." She said as a red mist begun to appear around Naruto, enveloping him. When it clear, his skin, hair, and his clothes were perfect and he had more muscle mass than he had before.

Naruto blinked and said, "Your kids mentioned this back in camp, thanks!"

"It is no problem Naruto and good luck my son." She said as she put a hand on his cheek before turning and walking away. He voice however called back to him. "Don't expect an easy love life Naruto. Your one of my kids, but not, at the same time. Besides, difficult love lives are entertaining for me to watch."

Now out of the daze that Aphrodite put him in with her beauty, he turned to a smiling Hera. "I wish to give you my blessing as well. You seem to understand me more than Zeus does and I appreciate that. With whoever you finally choose to be your wife, you will live happily, despite what Aphrodite said."

"Oh ok. Thank you." Naruto said.

"It is no problem." Hera said as they begun walking back to the throne room. "And if you decide to use those wings of yours, I will make sure my husband does not zap you out of the sky." That made Naruto laugh. "I do have a secret I wish to share with you though."

"Oh? And what is that Aunt Hera."

"I envy you and the other demi god children. You all have the power to connect with the mortal world in ways that I cannot. Now I could have a demi god child but I won't, it is not in my nature to be unfaithful to my husband."

"I see." Naruto said but then smiled. "You still have my respect for that and I don't know, but if you claim me, I could be helping you in the way other demi gods help their parents. Besides, we are family, and it is in my nature is help people."

Hera smiled. "I will think about it. And you good nature is what makes you so special. Now go, complete your quest with Poseidon's Son."

"Alright, Aunt Hera, I'll seya later." Naruto said as he waved goodbye and met up with Percy at the entrance.

How ya doing man?" the blond asked.

"I am good. Although dad said that he was sorry he gave me a Hero's Fate because I was born." Percy said.

"I see." Naruto said, "Let me tell you something. It is the same thing I told Neji, we make our own fates and I intend to do the same. Going down fighting for the people that are precious to me is better than dieing of old age. Still, if I died fighting when I was an old guy, that would be even more badass!"

"Heh, I kept that in mind Naruto." Percy chuckled. "So you look a bit different, what happened when you met with Aphrodite." Naruto blushed at that. "Oh? That interesting, huh?"

"Oh you're just jealous that you don't have the hottest grandma in the entire world." Naruto said, calling Aphrodite old and hot at the same time, making Percy laugh. "Anyway, she told me to call her mom and she gave me her Blessing, that is why my form looks nicer that usual."

"Oh, so that is why you are not covered in dirt like me." Percy said as they made their way back into the villages in Olympus.

As they walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. People and satyrs and naiads all turned towards the two, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as the duo passed, they knelt, as if the two were some kind of heroes.

Once they were back in Manhattan, Percy hailed a cab. Before he jumped in, he turned to Naruto, who was just standing there. "Are you coming to my house with me?"

Naruto shook his head. "I think this is one thing that you have to do alone. Like you said, your mom is back, you need some alone time and I can't always protect you from Gabe."

Percy had a blank face before he smiled sadly. "Yeah, he is probably pissed off at me for what I said back to the entire nation, he won't be happy and seeing you with me with just pissed him off more. He really doesn't like you after you won that money off of him."

"Eh, I am just cool like that." Naruto said with a smirk. "So, when you get the chance, let's meet back up at Camp Half Blood. I have a feeling that you will be there soon anyway." Percy nodded and smiled.

Naruto nodded and walked off before he disappeared in a black flash, making Percy's eyes widen at how no one saw that. "Crazy Ninja." He said to himself as he hopped in the cab and headed home. However, Naruto didn't go straight to Camp, he went to his apartment. He had some stuff to take care of first.

XXX

**And there you go. I am cutting this chapter short, since it mostly dealt with Percy's return home and I really don't think Naruto could have restrained himself against Gabe.**

**ONE CHAPTER LEFT!**

**However, if none of you hear from me again….that means I died in a Tornado because well….we got a warning and a watch….wish me luck please. Although I think and I hope it just passes us. Good thing I finished Fallout New Vegas.**

**Review!**


	22. We're back!

**Naruto: Prince of the Underworld**

**Chapter 22**

**Here it is people, the last chapter of this story. Now, I WILL do a sequel….eventually. So enjoy! Also, if you have not read my one shot called Darkened Heart, please do.**

Percy met Annabeth and Grover at Thalia's Tree a few hours after he left home. He hoped his mom used Medusa's head on Gabe and his idiot friends. Looking at his friends, he noticed they were one short. "Hey, where is Naruto?"

"I thought he was with you." Annabeth said.

"He left to go home for a bit after we left Olympus." Percy replied.

"Oh, I am sure he is fine." Grover said.

Just after the goat boy said that, there was a flash of black fire. When it dissipated, there Naruto stood with black shades on and a foot on a boombox under his foot and it was playing a rock song. One that Percy recognized with a deadpanned face.

"Here I am!" Naruto sang his greeting with a shit eating grin. "Rock you like a hurricane!"

The three smiled, chuckling a bit at Naruto's antics before Annabeth pressed a button on the boombox to turn it off. "Nice to see you, ninja boy."

Naruto sealed away the boombox with a smile before taking off his glasses and said, "Well, I just wanted to make an entrance."

"You always seem to want to do that." Grover said.

"Hey, it is Naruto." Percy said with a smirk. "He may be the unpredictable ninja, but at least he is on our side."

"Got that right!" Naruto cheered.

"Right, let's get into camp before they wonder what happened to us." Annabeth said.

"Right, just let me talk to Thalia first." Naruto said, turning to the tree.

However, Annabeth grabbed the back of his shirt and said, "Oh no, we don't have time for that right now. You can talk to her later." That gained a groan from Naruto as he was dragged halfway down the hill to Camp Half-Blood before he regained his footing.

One by one, the campers noticed their arrival and begun to gather at the gates, congratulating them on a job well done. They were the first to come back from a quest since Luke. When Chiron and Mr. D came upon this scene, their eyes widened and the whole camp let out a gasp. Above the returning heroes' heads were their family symbols, but Grover of course didn't, so he did the next best thing. He gave a huge smile with the peace sign.

Though they had all seen their symbols before, there was something different about Naruto's. It had a fourth symbol, the symbol of Hera. It was a peacock feather. Looking up at it, Naruto just smiled, silently thanking Hera for trusting him. However, he would keep that conversation a secret for now.

XXX

So, party of sorts was thrown for their return and they were treated like celebrities. According to camp tradition, they wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where they got to burn the burial shrouds their cabins had made for their in their absence.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful—gray silk with embroidered owls—Percy told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched him and told him to shut up. Naruto chuckled at that, wondering how he would get those two together, but then decided to let them deal with it. He didn't know what to do and it was too much work.

Even though Grover didn't have a cabin or was a demi god, he partied with his kind and forest. Percy's shroud was a joke and Naruto could not help but laugh his ass off. He was the son of Poseidon, so he did not have any cabinmates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make his shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle. Naruto could tell the water boy had fun burning that.

Naruto's shroud was awesome! He was like Percy, but the Aphrodite made his. He had a silver and black shroud that had the Hades' symbol smack dab in the middle with his other symbols surrounding his in triangle formation. He thanked them and they just smiled saying he was like family to them, which made the blond smile.

As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores, Percy was surrounded by Percy old

Hermes cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, Naruto's new Aphrodite cabinmates and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest "Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past."

The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabinmates, whose poisonous looks told Percy they'd never forgive Percy for disgracing their dad. However, it was odd that they forgave Naruto for that, since it seemed they were pissed at him for a bit before they got over it, seeing they already like the blond. And after a bit, Naruto invited them over to party with him, with Clarisse being the first to join him.

That was okay with Percy, since they were not harassing him.

Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen anyone's spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now he'll have an even bigger head, let's just hope the blond one won't get the both of them killed. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday..."

However, before it ended, the Apollo cabin asked Naruto if he could bring another song in. Naruto smirked and wave Percy and Grover in. He whispered what the song would be, getting raised eyebrows from the two before they just chuckled. Naruto turned to the rest of the camp and smiled. "Well, this song my not be related too much of anything we did, but I have always wanted to sing this. So join in if you want. It will be awesome." In an instant, all three boys had sunglasses on.

Naruto started out by yelling, "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!" The was silence before the hidden shadow clones begun the music, making everyone laugh and join in.

(woof, woof, woof, woof)

(woof, woof, woof, woof)

(woof, woof, woof, woof)

(woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

(woof, woof, woof, woof)

The whole camp had joined in in the barking, laughing the whole time. Then Naruto sung the real part, with his clones sing the chorus parts.

When the party was nice, the party was jumpin' (Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo)

And everybody havin' a ball (Hah, ho, Yippie Yi Yo)

I tell the fellas "start the name callin'" (Yippie Yi Yo)

And the girls report to the call

The poor dog show down

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Grover begun the next part with a smirk on his face.

I see ya' little speed boat head up our coast

She really want to skip town

Get back off me, beast off me

Get back you flea infested monger

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Percy laughed before he sung the next part.

I'm gonna tell {Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo}

To any girls calling them canine {Yippie, Yi, Yo}

Tell the dummy "Hey Man, It's part of the Party!" {Yippie Yi, Yo}

You fetch a women in front and her mans behind {Yippie, Yi, Yo}

Her bone runs out now

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Finally the whole camp seemed to be singing with naruto leading the whole thing, making Chiron wonder if the nearby farmer could hear all this.

Say, A doggy is nuttin' if he don't have a bone All dogy hold ya' bone, all doggy hold it

A doggy is nuttin' if he don't have a bone All dogy hold ya' bone, all doggy hold it

Wait for y'all my dogs, the party is on

I gotta get my girl I got my myind on

Do you see the rays comin' from my eye

What could you be friend

That Benji man that's breakin' them down?

Me and My white short shorts

And I can't seek a lot, any canine will do

I'm figurin' that's why they call me faithful

'Cause I'm the man of the land

When they see me they doah-ooooo(howl)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

Who let the dogs out (woof, woof, woof, woof)

After that, another song played until they all had to go to bed. If Chiron remembered correctly, the song was called Move it like this and all of the Aphrodite girls sung the girl part of the song.

So life went on. Percy was happy in his cabin where is was peaceful and Naruto got use to life the Aphrodite cabin and he was so glad there was more than one bathroom in a cabin full of girls and just a few guys. Percy told him that he got a letter from his mom, telling him that Gabe had mysteriously disappeared. The she sold a few statues that she had…created…to gain enough money for a new apartment and college tuition at NYU. Percy had told him that he had given Medusa's head to his mom and Naruto fell on his ass laughing. He was starting to really like the kid's mom.

Percy then told him about the new boarding school. Naruto offered to come along, saying he had the money, but Percy said he didn't have to if he didn't want to. So Naruto decided to be a year rounder for the fun of it.

On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'd seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, then explode into a million colors. However, Naruto decided to chip in with a few of his ninja explosives, making it all the more exciting because it seemed that ninjas really joined in on the ariel fight.

As the three demi gods were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to tell them good-bye. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and sneakers, but in the last few weeks he'd started to look older, almost high-school age. His goatee had gotten thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human.

"I'm off," he said. "I just came to say ... well, you know."

While Annebeth gave him a hug, Naruto asked, "So, not even going to enjoy the rest of summer we have?"

Grover sighed as he shook hands with the blond, "Sorry, but I wanna find Pan as soon as possible."

"So where are you heading?" Percy asked as he took shook the goat boy's hand.

"Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan ..."

"We understand," Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?"

"Yeah."

"And you remembered your reed pipes?"

"Jeez, Annabeth," he grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat." But he didn't really sound annoyed.

He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. He looked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway—nothing like the little runty boy Percy and Naruto were used to defend from bullies at Yancy Academy.

"Well," he said, "wish me luck."

"Well man, if you want luck, just take this." Naruto said as he handed him a piece of paper.

Grover rose an eyebrow at all the weird markings on it. "What is it?"

"Well, since I don't have a whole lot of three pronged kunai, you got an exploding tag, just rip it and run like hell."

That put a 'holy shit' smile on Grover's face but he accepted it anyway with a smile. He gave Annabeth another hug. He clapped the boys on the shoulder, then headed back through the dunes.

Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the

boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son of Athena) crossing the Delaware, and thanks to Naruto, the first Hokage fighting Madara and the Kyuubi. That made many wonder whose kid the first Hokage was.

"Hey, Grover," Percy called.

He turned at the edge of the woods.

"Wherever you're going—I hope they make good enchiladas."

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

"We'll see him again," Annabeth said.

"Oh I am sure he will." Naruto said. "He has the heart to survive."

July passed.

Percy spent his days devising new strategies for capture-the-flag and making alliances with the other cabins to keep the banner out of Ares's hands. Most of those involved Naruto since he was still a badass ninja and with some proding from said ninja, he was able to get to the top without scoring himself, however, Naruto still beat him to the top easily.

Naruto usually freaked many of the campers out by flying overhead to Thalia's tree or by getting to other places in camp really quick. For that, he was nicknamed, the Angle of Death thanks to his heritage. And like Percy, at the end of summer, he too got a leather necklace that had the symbol of Hades on it. Well that, and he put Tsunade's gem in it for the hell of it.

XXX

The day of the end of summer for camp came around and Naruto found a letter on his bed. He knew that Mr. D filled it out because even though the god like him, he still miss spelled his name.

Dear_ Nataro Umanaki_ ,

If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House

by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated

your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will

be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be

incinerated in the lava pit.

Have a nice day!

Mr. D (Dionysus)

Camp Director, Olympian Council #12

"That's nice." Naruto deadpanned. So he made his way to the Big House and told them he that he would be staying.

After that, he decided to pay Thalia a visit. She was always happy to see him and well, he like to see her smile. However, before he could, Clarisse walked up to him with a few of her friends. "Hey blondie!"

Naruto smiled as he turned around and said, "Yo."

"Why are you going back to the tree?"

"Well, we are friends and all. She is a cool person too. Just don't have a clue as to get her out of there." Naruto said thoughtfully at the end.

Clarisse's eye was twitching at that. "You do know she is just a tree right? I don't think she will ever be out of there, so why are you being so….loving to her."

A spark appeared in Naruto's eyes and a smirk appeared on his face, making Clarisse wonder what the blond had up his sleeve. "Clarisse, everybody needs somebody to love." Her eye begun to twitch as Naruto went up in smoke and now there were two of him, both in suits, sunglasses, and hats. Just like the blues brothers.

Everybody needs somebody

Everybody needs somebody to love

Someone to love (Someone to love)

Sweetheart to miss (Sweetheart to miss)

Sugar to kiss (Sugar to kiss)

I need you, (you) you, you

I need you, (you) you, you

I need you, (you) you, you in the morning

I need you, (you) you, you when my soul's on fire

Sometimes I feel, I feel a little sad inside

When my baby mistreats me, I never never have a place to hide, I need you!

Sometimes I feel, I feel a little sad inside

When my baby mistreats me, I never never have a place to hide,

I need you, (you) you, you

I need you, (you) you, you

You know people when you do find somebody, hold that woman, hold that

man, love him, hold him, squeeze her, please her, hold, squeeze and

please that person, give 'em all your love, signify your feelings with

every gentle caress, because it's so important to have that special

somebody to hold, kiss, miss, squeeze, and please.

Everybody needs somebody

Everybody needs somebody to love

Someone to love (Someone to love)

Sweetheart to miss (Sweetheart to miss)

Sugar to kiss (Sugar to kiss)

I need you, (you) you, you

I need you, (you) you, you

I need you, (you) you, you in the morning

I need you, (you) you, you when my soul's on fire

After he and his clone stop singing, he walked up the hill, never hearing Clarisse smack her head and mutter, "dumb blond" under her breath.

XXX

However, before he could put his hand to the tree, he felt that something was off in the air. Then he saw a pale, black haired kid behind him. He wore odd Japanese anime school clothing and a yellow scarf. The two stared at each other for a bit before Naruto asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes brother, you can." The boy said as he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, making him glow. "I am Thantos and I usually appear before a death and well, I think you need to stop this one."

"Who is it!"

"Percy." The boy said before disappearing with a sad look.

Naruto growled before he took off into the air right above the trees, he didn't want to anger Zeus to much with his flying but he needed to find Percy! Soon enough, he found the water boy, he noticed that Luke was quickly running away. However, he didn't have time to question it because he need to get Percy out of there. He picked the boy up and disappeared in a black flash of fire.

XXX

After eh made sure that Percy was going to be alright, he left the boy to Annabeth with a sad smile. He just hoped the boy was going to pull through.

He made his way back to the tree and reconnected with Thalia. Seeing the girl's smiling face, he said, "Hey, Thalia."

"Naruto!" The girl shouted happily as she hugged him.

**END**

**Well, that is it for now, I really could not do much for this last chapter and my head hurts. So what I am going to do is watch the Catwman movie for the hell of it and deal witht the heat. I mean, it is hotter in my house then outside! THE HELL! Anyway, I would like some ideas for the boat ride in the sequel. **

**REVIEW!**


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